As Sony announces it's doing away with new disc releases in 2028, people are recalling the big song and dance the company made about physical games and game sharing to dunk on the Xbox One back when the PS4 was announced.
Back in 2013, Xbox made headlines thanks to its DRM policies, which was the beginning of the tailspin the console has been in ever since, and a way for Sony to capitalize on it, giving the PS4 the starting momentum it needed after a weaker PS3 generation to become one of the most successful consoles of all time.
Former president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, Jack Tretton, got on stage at E3 2013 off the back of Xbox's disastrous showing and announced, "PS4 won't impose any new restrictions on the use of PS4 game discs," and was cut off by mass applause. He highlighted many ways a PS4 disc can be used, capping off with the fact that you can "keep it forever."
Jack Trenton on stage at Sony's E3 2013 press conference says PS4 discs will let players keep their games forever to roaring applause in the room.
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Following that same E3 presentation, Sony released the "Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video" which featured former president of SIE Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida and ex-vice president of third-party relations Adam Boyes simply handing a game over to each other. A move that has been remembered to this day, only now it'll be remembered with a heap of irony.
And here we are. One console generation later, and Sony is now in the mood to kill off its physical game production forever, which means you'll be stuck to digital purchases – which Sony has recently proven it can just wipe off your account (with movies, at least – thanks, Kotaku). It's also a signal that the PS6 could have a terrible approach to backwards compatibility if you're unable to use PS5 discs with it, with the chance of the next console having a disc drive now seeming significantly less likely.
