Sony just dropped a bombshell. Starting January 2028, it will stop making physical discs for new PlayStation games.
The reaction has been brutal. “It’s sad to see,” says Cody Spencer, co-owner of Pink Gorilla Games. “This decision is only a negative for gamers. We’re losing the ability to sell games, to share games, and to own games.”
Independent retailers are hit hardest. So are preservationists who worry about gaming history disappearing. Frank Cifaldi from the Video Game History Foundation calls it “a significant hit to consumer rights, the resale market, and game creators.”
But let’s be real. This move was coming. Capcom reported that 93% of its game sales were digital last fiscal year. The PS5 launched with a digital-only option. The PS5 Pro doesn’t even include a disc drive. Physical media has been dying for years.
Spencer thinks the real pain won’t hit for 5 to 10 years. That’s when physical PlayStation games become rare and expensive. “Our type of store may be seen more like a record store,” he says. A place for the most passionate fans, not everyone.
GTA VI is a preview of what’s coming. It ships in a physical box, but there’s no disc inside — just a download code. You can’t sell it, borrow it, or find a cheap used copy.
The preservation challenge is real. “Expecting museums to download a copy of Grand Theft Auto VI and hope it’ll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution,” Cifaldi says. He’s calling on trade groups to step up and offer real solutions for archiving digital-only content.
