Well I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t see PlayStation being the first to make this move. In a stunning announcement PlayStation has announced that beginning January 1st 2028 they will no longer produce physical media.
The announcement includes both first and third party games which means PlayStation is effectively leaving the physical media space in 2028. The statement reads:
“As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format.”
Physical media has long been in decline in gaming over the years, but this is still a baffling decision to completely cut physical games. In the latest Sony financial report 15% of PlayStation software sales were physical for the quarter. For the fiscal 2025 year that equated to around 770 million USD in revenue.
As someone who has long supported physical games media, albeit on Xbox this is a terrible thing to see. There’s no word on if Xbox will follow suit but it very likely will.
Even if you have moved on to digital gaming you should not cheer this. Options for consumers is never a bad thing and less options will only hurt everyone in the long run.
Thankfully the response online has been almost entirely negative with many PlayStation gamers even suggesting they will leave the platform. Whether that actually happens or not time will tell.
Will all the negative response lead to PlayStation changing course? Probably not but you never know.
