Sony Heard Backlash Over Dropping PlayStation Discs, Plans to Press Ahead (pcmag.com) 47
Sony says it will proceed with ending PlayStation disc sales in January 2028 despite petitions, boycott threats, and concerns about digital ownership and the disappearance of the secondhand market. PCMag reports: After Sony's recent earnings call, an investor Q&A session saw analysts ask about its controversial decision to end disc production across all of its consoles. The company hadn't publicly commented since its announcement and had reduced activity on social accounts and other marketing channels. Sony's chief financial officer, Lin Tao, broke that silence during the Q&A. "There are various reasons we made this decision," she said through an interpreter. "The biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing. That's the big factor. It's not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content, digitalization is progressing. "And so when we think about the future, and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we're going to cautiously move this forward," Tao said.
"We have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us," said Tao. [...] Tao says Sony wants to "consider" the emotions of disgruntled customers, especially as titles are "connected to people's fond memories in many cases." Tao also alluded to the possibility of future measures to lessen the blow for anyone unhappy with the decision, but it appears Sony hasn't yet finalized what those may be. "In the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore," she said.
"We have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us," said Tao. [...] Tao says Sony wants to "consider" the emotions of disgruntled customers, especially as titles are "connected to people's fond memories in many cases." Tao also alluded to the possibility of future measures to lessen the blow for anyone unhappy with the decision, but it appears Sony hasn't yet finalized what those may be. "In the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore," she said.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not even real files from an user standpoint. you can't dir or ls on a console or pop the file manager.
Cerny could store unsettling giraffe pictures on your PS5 and you would never know.
Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Do they think what's on those discs isn't digital?
Re: (Score:2)
If it's in your physical possession and out of their reach it's not "digital"
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Interesting)
If it's in your physical possession and out of their reach it's not "digital"
Server-based, would have been the accurate term from the company charging so damn much to access theirs in perpetuity.
One would think they'd be quite familiar with the concept they dare not speaketh..
Re: (Score:2)
Server-based, would have been the accurate term from the company charging so damn much to access theirs in perpetuity.
They're probably trying to avoid the "in the cloud" phrase. But you're right; "Cloud" was abused and misused all over.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
You are assuming that you will get a download instead of server resident software that will one day fairly soon cease to be available to you. The future will be like Steam vs GoG. Personally I refuse to buy digital items that I don't OWN. I've a Kindle and KindleUlimited but I will never buy digital books. However it makes a great library card.
Re: (Score:3)
When you buy a game as a digital download, you are buying a non-transferable license. So you cannot sell it as a used game. The option to resell requires buying the game as a physical disk, and that is precisely what Sony is taking away.
Incidentally, you also cannot burn the download to disk. In the modern day, the disk is primarily just a physical license key. The game still runs from the playstation's internal drive.
Re: Huh? (Score:2)
I just bought like new copies of Gardian of the Galaxy and Farcry 6 for just $10 each from a guy a few miles from me. The next day I got Mario Odyssey, Zelda Echoes of Wisdom for $25 each for my son's Switch from an other guy on Craigslist. I love the second hand market that is possible with physical media.
I do not care about getting the latest and greatest game, I just want games with a solo campaign I can play at my convenience when I have nothing better to do, including when the internets tubes might be
Re: (Score:2)
Downloads absolutely do run out. That's the whole problem.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Use of "digital" meaning purchasing a download appears to have originated in "digital phonorecord delivery [copyright.gov]", a term of art in a United States copyright law.
Re: (Score:2)
"Some of you may stop buying Playstation, but the death of the resale market is a sacrifice Im willing to make. I expect the sales of 20 year old games sold 20 years later at $30 each will continue"
Nintendo proved this point, enjoy your decisions.
Nintendo is a poor case study for this. My anecdote - had a PS3, then a Nintendo Switch, and I decided to get the Switch 2 because:
1. performance improvement for one game I played somewhat frequently
2. two games that said they were coming to switch 2
Well, number 1 happened, but it still works on the old switch too. The two new games I was looking forward to canceled their plans for the Switch 2 (Borderlands4 and GTA6).
Doesn't surprise me at all that Switch2 owners are buying 20yr old gmes; There's hardly an
Virtue signaling? (Score:2, Interesting)
Sony says it will proceed with ending PlayStation disc sales in January 2028 despite petitions, boycott threats, and concerns about digital ownership and the disappearance of the secondhand market. PCMag reports
That petition only has 353,440 signatures over 31 days.
It's not even possible for companies without a disc press fab to order such a small amount!
You can't threaten a boycott when you don't purchase anything from them anyway.
These people do not buy physical media.
The second hand market was put 6 feet under some time ago, at least for sony.
You can't use that physical disc in a playstation without it getting permission online first.
You can't do that either once they push an updated blacklist for the game to t
Re:Virtue signaling? (Score:4, Informative)
100% agree, except that you CAN boycott them - don't get a new Playstation at all. Make them solve resale first. They should have solved it in the either of the last 2 or 3 versions.
If it weren't for the RAM shortage, I'd be certain PC gaming would be coming back strong (possibly on Linux/Steam).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
(apologies for going off on a tangent...)
but there is 100% a monopolistic strategy going on here between the three RAM/SSD companies.
Ugh, don't get me started. I can't bring myself to buy a new SSD cause I apparently got lucky with my timing.
2023-02 : Crucial MX500 4TB - $240
2024-08 : Crucial BX500 4TB - $210
Today:
Crucial MX500 4TB - unavailable
Crucial MX500 2TB (HALF THE SIZE) - $280
Crucial BX500 4TB - $480
In 2023, that 4TB was just to get by until I could get a bigger SSD. Where are those!??!? 8tb ones are around $3500+, and anything larger seems to be a PCIe card around $10k+. I get the lack of
85% of all sales happened digitally now (Score:2, Interesting)
As for ownership gog.com is right there. I have not seen a single person mentioned gog. So honestly I think that all this talk of doing away with physical games isn't coming from a groundswell of opposition to the idea but it's just the usual content Mills looking for something they can shovel into our eyeballs. This is something it's easy to
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
how does this relate to playstation?
GOG is an alternative that bypasses all this bullshit? Why not mention solutions to problems.
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah you might have to abandon the PlayStation platform. If you want to own your games you don't get to own a PlayStation anymore. You buy a PC and if you really really really want to own it for sure I suppose you're also going to have to buy games that run under Linux using proton which is valve's translation software for runni
Re: (Score:2)
GOG is for poaching more than launching (Score:2)
And like I said I don't see anyone talking about GOG.
How much of that is related to GOG's reputation for being selective about what games and genres they accept? I get the impression that GOG is a bit more "curated" than some other PC game stores. The curators don't really want visual novels (a style of menu-driven adventure game). And apart from new releases by CD Projekt (which owned GOG before the end of 2025), I suspect that GOG seeks to poach "catalog" games that have already been successful on the competing store Steam as opposed to having a game at day
Re: (Score:2)
This is actually fluffed up numbers by counting the games that don't exist on disc.
But it is a bit pointless to have games on disc on a platform that is a black box connected to the internet that you have no control over.
Maybe it'll spur digital resale changes? (Score:3)
I can't remember the last time I got a game on disk that didn't wind up downloading the whole damn thing again as an update. So, for that part, I don't know if this really matters. Fancy boxes and maps and accessories can still be sold.
Resale should be the discussion point here, not the disks/media. Maybe backlash from this will be enough for the next next version to implement something that would enable that. How hard could it be to share a license key anyway?
Re: (Score:2)
Resale should be the discussion point here, not the disks/media.
- Without physical media, even if they are used just as "dongles" not containing the actual game, you own nothing - you are at the mercy of some remote server to exist and be willing to approve of you playing what you already bought and installed. For "Sony", "digital" implies that they can take away your "bought" stuff anytime they want (or automatically if they go out of business).
Re: (Score:3)
A dongle isn't really any different. Buy "digital" game, download enabling blob (license key, whatever) and do some signing stuff so it's tied to your machine and online knows, download and use game enabled by that just as you would by said dongle. Transferring it needs solved, but isn't all that complicated - export to a USB key or use a license server, deregister from your machine, register it on a new machine.
Most of that already happens. You can migrate your games to a new machine already. Just need to
No physical discs, no need for a physical console (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not sure Sony has really thought this one through - They're not just killing physical media (and more importantly, second-hand markets), they're shifting markets entirely. Rather than competing with only Microsoft and Nintendo, they're effectively making themselves nothing more than another AAA gaming studio combined with a lock-in to their walled garden of a marketplace.
Effectively, they're now competing with Steam rather than Nintendo. And unlike Sony, most customers like Valve.
Re: (Score:2)
The entire point of gaming consoles is that we can stick a game in, turn it on, and we're more-or-less instantly in the game. Absent that fundamental benefit, why exactly would anyone want yet another locked down computing appliance in their house?
This is an example of "overthinking," also known as "underthinking" or "over-concluding."
Aka, a complete lack of critical thinking. You start with a claim, "the entire point... blah blah blah." Ok. Right there, at the start, you're already guaranteed to be saying something stupid. Preventable stupidity. Instead of a laughably-wrong statement of absolute fact, an intellectually honest person would start with an idea. "Is the reason people buy that _____?" Because you know you don't know. That much, we all kn
Re: (Score:2)
The real truth is that getting rid of physical disks when on your "trigger list," and when you saw the words you spewed a bunch of stupid shit
This is an example of "overthinking," also known as "underthinking" or "over-concluding."
Based on your UID, you're old enough to remember when games actually worked at release and have no excuse for your ignorance. The current situation is one we allowed to happen with prebuys and a passive acceptance that all software is now effectively in beta forever.
It doesn't need to be like that and you damned well know better.
The disk is irrelevant... (Score:1)
The disk is just a straw man for OWNERSHIP. Do you have the code on your device and can you run it at your convenience? If not you are just leasing. GoG allows offline installers, while Steam offers limited "offline" play that only works for some games some of the time. If I can't load my game and play at the cabin without net access I won't buy. I use steam for demo's and to find out about new games but NEVER to purchase. Actually I lied, I own the Ultimate Doom on Steam but since I play using UZdoom it wa
Re: (Score:2)
Every one of my steam games has new content added every month, though.
If all you do is say the parts that support your argument and ignore everything that works against your argument, you're just a sack of hot air. Nobody is going to agree with you except people who already agree with you.
And frankly, if you're not willing to keep paying for new content in a game... just play old games. You don't need anything new, you're happy repeating the same content over and over, and there's already a million games th
it's a sacrifice they're willing to make (Score:2)
The used-game market isn't nearly as important to new gamers as it is to older gamers. They're used to change, and for the majority of ALL gamers, it's not a big deal.
This decision was almost certainly backed by market studies and accounting projections. They realize there will be "resistance", but like the Borg, resistance is futile. There won't be enough of it to get anywhere NEAR break-even with the revenue increase this move is going to create.
In the end, it's all about the Benjamines. They're confi
shrug... (Score:2)
I won't buy another playstation, nor will I buy one for my anyone in my family. Sony can go fornicate themselves.
Re: shrug... (Score:2)
There is a solution. For consumers at least (Score:2)
Though assuming the mechanism to do so works through your Sony account, it won’t help independent brick and mortar resellers. Nor chains like Game Stop. We have an independent store on our neighborhood Main Street. They stopped dealing in dvds about a year ago. They do sell card games and bo
taking disneys approach (Score:1)
Disney is doing this in Australia. Australians are no longer allowed to own copies of Disney movies as of a year or so ago. you must rent it now. this is the way its going for all media. you will never be allowed to but a perpetual license for content again.
Well yeah (Score:2)
Damage done, doesn't matter (Score:1)
It wouldn't change anything if they backtracked, the damage is done.
Consumers already know Sony wants to:
- Abandon consumers who purchased discs
- Press ahead with a digital service that has no competition
- A digital service with no game sharing
- A digital service with a lacking refund policy
- A digital service that goes down and leaves people unable to play games
If they reverse course, we already know they find the above scenario satisfactory. That is a big enough warning sign to stop all investment and avo