Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles

2 months ago by slaacaa to c/games

In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only.
kbal 61 points 2 months ago

There are very few reasons left to buy any consoles, and they decided to make it one less.

path: 0 24539392, hotness: undefined, score: 61, children: 1
slaacaa 12 points 2 months ago

Same view

path: 0 24539392 24539422, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 0
erusuoyera 33 points 2 months ago path: 0 24540072, hotness: undefined, score: 33, children: 1
slaacaa 9 points 2 months ago

Good timing, Sony putting us plebs into our place

path: 0 24540072 24540730, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0
Lydon_Feen 22 points 2 months ago

From the bottom of my dark heart, fuck you, you idiots who keep buying digital anything when there are physical versions.

The time will arrive when you own absolutely nothing.

path: 0 24539447, hotness: undefined, score: 22, children: 3
bloogoose 12 points 2 months ago
path: 0 24539447 24539879, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 0
slaacaa 9 points 2 months ago

cOnVeNiEnCe

path: 0 24539447 24540758, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0
Zagorath 3 points 2 months ago

I'm definitely not on Sony's side here. I think you should always have the option to buy physical.

But the thing is, especially as a PC gamer who hasn't had a console since the Wii, I've not bought physical games since around that same time. I haven't even had an optical drive for nearly a decade now.

With multiplayer games, I'm going to be dependent on them operating their servers anyway. And with singleplayer (or P2P multiplayer), if they take away the digital version in a "you own nothing" way, then I'll pirate. And do so with a completely clean conscience.

While the ideal is that you can legally keep playing what you paid for (and that's why the Stop Killing Games movement is so important, especially for multiplayer games), in the absence of that, I honestly don't see why an individual would gain from buying physical.

path: 0 24539447 24556034, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
humble_boatsman 16 points 2 months ago

Please pay your monthly subscription to access your entire digital library.

path: 0 24539480, hotness: undefined, score: 16, children: 1
Alk 0 points 2 months ago
path: 0 24539480 24540175, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
MurrayL 15 points 2 months ago

Sad to finally have it come to fruition, but anyone who didn’t see this coming hasn’t been paying attention. The writing’s been on the wall for physical games since XB1/PS4 era.

path: 0 24540445, hotness: undefined, score: 15, children: 3
Eeyore_Syndrome 9 points 2 months ago

People seem to forget PS4 discs were just game data + physical DRM.

Out of the box, PS4 can't even play Blu-Rays until you sign into a PSN account/activate the console as primary to enable the license either lol.

path: 0 24540445 24541984, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 1
motruck 1 point 2 months ago

What? You can play ps4 games offline..

path: 0 24540445 24541984 24560541, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Blackdoomax 1 point 2 months ago

There are other walls with other writings on them that I also can see :)

path: 0 24540445 24546931, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
RightHandOfIkaros 14 points 2 months ago

This is what happens when a company feels like they have zero competition.

path: 0 24542819, hotness: undefined, score: 14, children: 4
slaacaa 11 points 2 months ago

They are right. Xbox absolutely shit the bed this generation. I think it’s possible they’ll not make a next gen console

path: 0 24542819 24543728, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
Corkyskog 2 points 2 months ago

Well that seems short sighted. Why would I buy a Playstation as my next console rather than a computer and use Steam and never look back?

path: 0 24542819 24550464, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 2
RightHandOfIkaros 2 points 2 months ago

Thats a question for the Sony executives, not me lol

path: 0 24542819 24550464 24550790, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
DoucheBagMcSwag 2 points 2 months ago

Because they have a monopoly on the console industry.

Many people avoid PC because console is friendly plug and play

For the record I am pro PC.

path: 0 24542819 24550464 24560346, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
slaacaa 11 points 2 months ago

What the actual fuck

In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only.

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.  

This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.  

We’ll continue to prioritize our resources to drive innovation in how players can access games and provide choices as to where players prefer to purchase new games, whether that’s at retailers or PlayStation Store. We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans and we thank you for your continued support.

path: 0 24539302, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 6
scrubbles 11 points 2 months ago

Yeah bull, show us these "trends" you keep mentioning, Sony. We know why you actually don't want to.

path: 0 24539302 24539444, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 3
Alk 7 points 2 months ago

They aren't wrong though. Gamers at large just prefer downloading games. The vocal minority likes physical games, including me. But the average person who wants to play the latest popular title doesn't put that much thought into it. "Why buy a game when I have to download patches and content anyway? I don't want all those boxes I'll never use cluttering up my living room."

I think there is merit in producing physical games even without mass demand, and I'm upset this is happening. But they're not wrong in their claims.

path: 0 24539302 24539444 24540191, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 2
iturnedintoanewt 0 points 2 months ago

You're thinking PC gamers. Console gamers that don't need an online experience (story-driven games like TLOU, uncharted) can just buy these original on second hand markets. You just pop in the disc and install. I did that a lot on my PS4, the second hand markets for videogames here are huge, like mall-sized big.

path: 0 24539302 24539444 24540191 24542089, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 1
Alk 2 points 2 months ago

No I'm definitely thinking console gamers. When buying new, most console gamers just download. I imagine Sony is basing this decision on purchase numbers of new games physical vs digital, and not paying any mind at all to the secondhand market. Customers of the secondhand market are not their customers in this perspective.

Again, not saying I agree with this, but they can certainly use new game purchase numbers as a justification here, even if it cuts out a portion of gamers, because that portion doesn't account for most of their game revenue.

path: 0 24539302 24539444 24540191 24542089 24542938, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
lemmyng 1 point 2 months ago

HOW DARE THOSE PRESUMPTUOUS PISSHOLES PRESUME MY GAME-PLAYING PREFERENCES!

path: 0 24539302 24545609, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 1
TORFdot0 2 points 2 months ago

It’s not your preference. It’s Sony’s preference for good little consumers that buy digital and pay monthly for ps+

path: 0 24539302 24545609 24549792, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
noodNinja 6 points 2 months ago

This is bullshit. Pros: saving a lot of plastic. Better for enviroment. Cons: The "you own nothing argument" I can't resell my discs anymore, which is my main reason for buying actual discs.

path: 0 24549399, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 5
RightHandOfIkaros 6 points 2 months ago

I would imagine stopping used games resale is priority number one for this happening.

path: 0 24549399 24550022, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 1
imecth -1 points 2 months ago

It's not, physical sales have been dwindling in general, although part of the reason for that is the push towards digital.

path: 0 24549399 24550022 24550836, hotness: undefined, score: -1, children: 0
imecth 6 points 2 months ago

The solution here has never been to keep producing disks, what we need is proper digital ownership laws that let you resell game keys and force stores like steam to disentangle them from your account.

path: 0 24549399 24550835, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 1
noodNinja 1 point a month ago

that's actually an epic idea for consumers. Not so epic for companies wanting to sell games though I guess

path: 0 24549399 24550835 24852961, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
slaacaa 0 points 2 months ago

They will keep selling plastic boxes without discs, so there is 0 pro

path: 0 24549399 24553079, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
Blackdoomax 5 points 2 months ago

Just when my ps+ will stop. I'll pirate the fuck out the next playstation console.

path: 0 24546907, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
LemmyTellYou -1 points 2 months ago

There’s so much hate, but Sony are basically the last ones to do this. It sucks, but it’s the way the industry has been going for years

path: 0 24542020, hotness: undefined, score: -1, children: 2
WolfLink 4 points 2 months ago

Nintendo is still making physical cartridges

path: 0 24542020 24542300, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 1
lemmyng 2 points 2 months ago

For now. You think that their sudden decision to discount digital games was out of the kindness of their hearts?

path: 0 24542020 24542300 24545645, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
gruvn -3 points 2 months ago

Please pardon my ignorance, but I don't understand why people are so mad. Owning physical media does not mean you can play your game. As long as games talk to servers and receive updates, they can be killed. For example, I own a disc for Overwatch (1), that has been a coaster for several years now. So while I 100% agree this is shitty practice, I feel like this is not new at all. Am I missing something, or are people just discovering this now?

path: 0 24549033, hotness: undefined, score: -3, children: 2
Itsamelemmy 1 point 2 months ago

Isn't overwatch an online only game? Pretty sure I can put any of my single player games in and play without internet. Sure, you don't get updates, patches but the game plays.

path: 0 24549033 24549517, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
slaacaa 0 points 2 months ago

You’re missing something

path: 0 24549033 24553085, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
games
games

@sh.itjust.works

login for more options
25872
14134
2399

Video game news oriented community. No NanoUFO is not a bot :)

Posts.

  1. News oriented content (general reviews, previews or retrospectives allowed).
  2. Broad discussion posts (preferably not only about a specific game).
  3. No humor/memes etc..
  4. No affiliate links
  5. No advertising.
  6. No clickbait, editorialized, sensational titles. State the game in question in the title. No all caps.
  7. No self promotion.
  8. No duplicate posts, newer post will be deleted unless there is more discussion in one of the posts.
  9. No politics.

Comments.

  1. No personal attacks.
  2. Obey instance rules.
  3. No low effort comments(one or two words, emoji etc..)
  4. Please use spoiler tags for spoilers.

My goal is just to have a community where people can go and see what new game news is out for the day and comment on it.

Other communities:

Beehaw.org gaming

Lemmy.ml gaming

lemmy.ca pcgaming

go to feed...