Sony's decision to end physical disc production for new games on PlayStation consoles in 2028 isn't exactly popular among consumers – but that doesn't mean the company thinks it's making the wrong choice.
The end of physical media as we know it is quite the hot topic, with game preservation experts predicting it'll all just lead to more piracy and folks within the industry speaking out against companies' move toward digital-only gaming. Lords of the Fallen 2 publisher Marek Tyminski, for example, stated that Sony's choice to axe discs and the fact that GTA 6 is going disc-free itself "feels unfair to studios still backing physical" – so, yeah.
However, Sony appears to be unwavering in its decision. Following its quarterly financial conference during an earnings call Q&A (as transcribed by Investing), Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao implies as much.
The "biggest" reason? "The digitalization of contents overall has been progressing. That's the big factor. It's not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of contents – digitalization is progressing." I immediately think of DVDs, personally.
According to Tao, Sony considered its decision for quite some time.
"When we think about the future – and we put in a lot of thought and time, we cautiously considered this – we came to this conclusion: we're going to cautiously move this forward. To this decision, we have received various opinions; people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us. Games are loved by many people."
That's perhaps an understatement – and, unsurprisingly, the nostalgia factor doesn't help. "It's a form of entertainment that's loved by people," as Tao says, "it's connected to people's fond memories in many cases."
And, although Sony isn't backing down on going disc-free, the executive explains that it's not a cut-and-dried process. "We understand those emotions. We want to consider that," she admits. "And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore."
I do wonder what that means – but, again, it's probably not what most gamers want to hear. It's not an admission of Sony taking its choice back and opting to support physical media… and "future digital ecosystem" is admittedly a tough quote to swallow as a longtime game collector myself.
Plus, Sony goes on to say it doesn't "see that there will be any negative impact on our business."
I'm choosing to remain hopeful that we'll still see discs and game cards in the future in some capacity – even if I'm holding on to a dying form of media here. A girl can dream, right?
Here's why we think PlayStation killing discs is bad for everyone, whether you care about physical games or not.
