Sony has announced that all new games from 2028, will no longer have a physical form on their system. A push towards digital, it seems they have wanted for so long.

Source – https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/

This seems to go against an old “Gotcha” they performed on Xbox some years ago, in the form of allowing for borrowing games from your friends. It seems that it has aged like milk and gone sour, because Sony now wants to control the games you have in your library, the way you access them, and how long you have them for.

Physical media, for many, is showcasing their love of a game, showing off a collection. As Sony has shown (through their recent removal of movies), they’re not shy of removing your access to purchases without any refund or discussion around alternatives. This is an outright attack on their customer base, by removing the 2nd hand market and lending games to friends.

Thinking of the changes, this is going to affect many people’s lives, also within the physical gaming market. With Nintendo having already gone towards this with the Key Cards, and Xbox has done with its discs, essentially being a digital key.

It seems the world is moving towards an entirely digital front, with no ownership, just a licence to your purchases. However, at the same time as this announcement, they also announced that the PS3 and PS-Vita storefronts are closing down, with a “foreseeable future” on how long you have to download your purchased games. Probably not very long.

I am personally aghast at this change, with my collection now likely to falter and maybe even stop console gaming in the future if this change isn’t subject to a U-turn (and considering the current backlash, I hope Sony listens).

This is entirely down to corporate greed, with Sony wanting all the profits and nothing more. By killing the physical market and 2nd hand, all profits go through them. Despite the changes this will have on the production of games (no manufacturing costs for cases and discs), I highly doubt this will reduce the costs of the digital copies, which in most cases are already higher than physical discs.

Play has no limits? Seems it does now.

One that thing…

PHYSICAL MEDIA FOREVER

What do you think of this change? Let us know in the comments below.