Sony is ending physical disc production for new PlayStation games in 2028, and the widely controversial decision could affect how Xbox and Nintendo approach physical media, according to the company's ex-boss.
Earlier this week, PlayStation made everyone and their unborn children mad by announcing that it plans to discontinue physical production of new games releasing on PS4, PS5, and inevitable PS6 consoles from January 2026. "Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only," the company explained.
Former PlayStation Worldwide Studios head, Shawn Layden, who led the company across its PS4 golden years, recently chimed in on the "dramatic decision" in an interview with Eurogamer.
Speaking on how PlayStation's disc-less future could impact the other two console makers, Layden essentially says it's not good news: "Certainly this is an industry where if one company, particularly the leader of the industry, makes a decision of this magnitude, that's going to heavily influence what the other ones do."
The Nintendo Switch 2 is a fairly new console that supports physical cartridges, despite a few less-than-ideal Game-Key Card releases. The likelihood of the Big N completely ditching physical games any time soon is pretty low, then.
Meanwhile, Xbox has pretty openly discussed its next-gen plans for Project Helix, a console that can also apparently play your PC games. What shape that takes isn't totally clear, but there haven't been any promises of a built-in disc drive at the time of writing.
Ending support for physical releases isn't a new point of debate for the company, Layden says, since was apparently asked about it "every year for the last 20 years." But he was always hesitant to pull the trigger until he was "comfortable enough to believe that worldwide, broadband throughout is good enough to support that download experience, good enough to reach the majority of customers," he tells Eurogamer. While he was in charge, that reality obviously never came to pass, though he acknowledges that he no longer works for PlayStation and, thus, no longer knows what their internal data says about the matter.
Regardless, Sony's decision has been hugely unpopular. Developers and publishers across the industry spoke out against PlayStation's all-digital future, citing concerns around game preservation and consumer rights.
Despite huge declines over the last two decades, one analyst recently revealed that spending on physical games in the US actually increased over the last 12-month period. Around $1.6 billion was spent on physical video games in the US alone – certainly nothing to scoff at, and the small increase in business indicates that it's not a market that's ready to die by itself.
