You can add the UK retail organization The Entertainment Retailer's Association (ERA) to the bloated shelf of enemies PlayStation has collected since announcing it would stop producing physical game discs by 2028. The association representing major UK game retailers like Amazon and Sainsbury's can't believe PlayStation wants to leave so much money still swaying on the tree.
"ERA consumer data shows that 25% of under 25s use discs for gaming and the total [UK] disc-based games market was valued at over £300 million" – about $402 million – "in 2025," says Retailer's Association CEO Kim Bayley, as reported by The Game Business. "The industry should be embracing every legitimate way consumers want to buy games, not narrowing their choices."
I think it's rare that moneymakers, like the people who represent Sainsbury's, and mere mortal video game players, who are tired of everything in the industry getting worse and more expensive, agree. But it seems that PlayStation's plan to, in its own words, "remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience" by exploding an important facet of game preservation, ownership, artistry, dignity, and indeed, sales, can bring together uneasy allies.
It appears, then, that Bayley shares an opinion with GamesRadar+ staff writer Dustin Bailey, who recently (and correctly) observed, "The secondhand NES that I got as a kid in the '90s still works, albeit with a bit of repair work. The same goes for all of my old games, with many hundreds of other titles still available to buy secondhand. When I spent $700 on a PS5 Pro, my expectation was that it, too, would continue to work for another 30 or 40 years [...]. But what good is the promise of that investment when the PS6 comes around and every single game I purchase is tied to a server that Sony could choose to shut down at any time?"
Similarly, Bayley argues, "A disc can be shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved and, crucially, still played years from now. A download licence often offers none of those freedoms."
It seems that many people who like buying and selling video games don't want another reason for the industry to fail, who knew?
"Removing discs doesn't represent progress," says Bayley. "It simply removes choice. That's bad for gamers, bad for retailers, and ultimately bad for the long-term health and preservation of our games industry."
