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re: Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:19 pm to imjustafatkid
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:19 pm to imjustafatkid
If it’s something they’re able to find a way to implement it should be something they should be given credit for, if for nothing else it’s a very consumer friendly overture at making an attempt to ease the pain of total discontinuation of physical games. It’s more than Sony has committed to doing and it will likely be at great expense to Microsoft to implement as the poster above said, I’m not sure how there’s any other way it could work other than on the honor system or basically trust me bro.
They will still in the end join Sony in phasing out physical. Xbox has invested immense amounts of money and time into cloud gaming, Sony wants to crush physical games for the universal reason all big publishers do, profit margins.
Xbox has a possibly even bigger motivation as I laid out above, pushing people to their cloud services.
I really hope they decide to make Sony look like dumb fricks and keep printing physical media but I am very sure they eventually will announce they will be taking the same pathway as Sony once they let them take all the arrows for them
They will still in the end join Sony in phasing out physical. Xbox has invested immense amounts of money and time into cloud gaming, Sony wants to crush physical games for the universal reason all big publishers do, profit margins.
Xbox has a possibly even bigger motivation as I laid out above, pushing people to their cloud services.
I really hope they decide to make Sony look like dumb fricks and keep printing physical media but I am very sure they eventually will announce they will be taking the same pathway as Sony once they let them take all the arrows for them
1
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:35 pm to td01241
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. Really hard to understand Sony's strategy here.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 9:11 pm to imjustafatkid
They dont care how evil their actions are or how many people they piss off.
Their calculation is pretty simple here actually.
The more they can create an entirely walled in garden their profit margins would increase to such a significant degree on a per user basis theyre ok with losing millions and millions of their current users if that comes to pass.
Sony is already doing variable pricing and has been for over a year now.
Think of it like this
Everytime a copy of God of War or Last of Us or Horizon is sold at gamestop or on amazon or whatever the retailer takes roughly 30 of the 70 dollars from that sale domestically in America.
The cut overseas is generally even less for sony where its more of a 50/50 split
If you look at every action sony has taken since the start of the ps5 generation through the lense of their ultimate goal being to create an end to end system where they are in control of the type and amount of content available inside of it, who has access to it and when they have access to it, and at what price each user can have access to it down to an individual level where I might pay 70 for a game and you might pay 50 for a game based on some algorithm they run in the background that tells them which price to offer to each of us that is most likely to result in a sell.
I am usually for the government staying out of stuff like this but this shite is text book antitrust behavior just for the digital age and needs to be handled
Their calculation is pretty simple here actually.
The more they can create an entirely walled in garden their profit margins would increase to such a significant degree on a per user basis theyre ok with losing millions and millions of their current users if that comes to pass.
Sony is already doing variable pricing and has been for over a year now.
Think of it like this
Everytime a copy of God of War or Last of Us or Horizon is sold at gamestop or on amazon or whatever the retailer takes roughly 30 of the 70 dollars from that sale domestically in America.
The cut overseas is generally even less for sony where its more of a 50/50 split
If you look at every action sony has taken since the start of the ps5 generation through the lense of their ultimate goal being to create an end to end system where they are in control of the type and amount of content available inside of it, who has access to it and when they have access to it, and at what price each user can have access to it down to an individual level where I might pay 70 for a game and you might pay 50 for a game based on some algorithm they run in the background that tells them which price to offer to each of us that is most likely to result in a sell.
I am usually for the government staying out of stuff like this but this shite is text book antitrust behavior just for the digital age and needs to be handled
Posted on 7/16/26 at 9:51 pm to td01241
quote:
I am usually for the government staying out of stuff like this but this shite is text book antitrust behavior just for the digital age and needs to be handled
Can't say I'd be totally opposed, honestly. This is some obvious anti-consumer behavior with no discernible benefit to the average person.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 10:02 pm to imjustafatkid
Posted on 7/17/26 at 12:42 am to imjustafatkid
Everything that comes out just makes it an even worse look for Playstation. Now we've got developers of PS5 exclusives apologizing to fans for there not being enough physical copies.
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. quote:
Mortal Shell 2 has accidentally become one of the strongest arguments for physical games on PlayStation.
Developer Cold Symmetry says demand for the PS5-exclusive Revered Edition was much higher than expected, with physical copies selling out at multiple retailers before the game’s launch.
The studio apologized to fans who couldn’t get a copy, saying there’s a “very low chance” more units will be available before release.
It also made it clear that a post-launch restock isn’t guaranteed, adding, “There is no guarantee of a stock replenishment plan after launch, as this decision is not ours to make.”
Posted on 7/17/26 at 6:22 am to imjustafatkid
As me and you have stated multiple times
The ratio of physical game sales is much higher than the industry claims
The ratio of physical game sales is much higher than the industry claims
Posted on 7/17/26 at 12:17 pm to td01241
quote:
As me and you have stated multiple times
The ratio of physical game sales is much higher than the industry claims
The backlash to this is much more sustained than I expected. I am still not convinced XBOX will take advantage of this, but man it will be an all-time fumble if they don't.
Posted on 7/17/26 at 1:50 pm to imjustafatkid
How many of these paid PS bots post here?
Posted on 7/20/26 at 6:04 pm to imjustafatkid
Posted on 7/21/26 at 7:03 am to td01241
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. No surprise here, 2026 is going to have single digit percentage physical sales. Bravo Sony.
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 7:05 am
Posted on 7/21/26 at 7:11 am to UltimateHog
well, when you offer a disc-less console at a discount, of course digital sales are going to rise.
i'm willing to bet that a majority of people aren't buying digital only consoles because they prefer digitally bought games. it's because they're saving $100 vs the console that comes with a disc drive.
i'm willing to bet that a majority of people aren't buying digital only consoles because they prefer digitally bought games. it's because they're saving $100 vs the console that comes with a disc drive.
Posted on 7/21/26 at 7:14 am to UltimateHog
Posted on 7/21/26 at 7:15 am to finchmeister08
Of course, because most don't care at all about physical and haven't for a very long time and there is no 4K blu-ray market either so zero reason to spend $100+ for a disc version. Once upon a time people wanted a disc drive just as much for DVD's and blu-ray's too.
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 7:18 am
Posted on 7/21/26 at 7:37 am to UltimateHog
i stand corrected...
82% of all PS5 hardware sales are physical.
Disc Editions Make Up 82% Of All PS5 Console Sales/
why are people buying consoles with disc drives if they're buying digital games?
82% of all PS5 hardware sales are physical.
Disc Editions Make Up 82% Of All PS5 Console Sales/
why are people buying consoles with disc drives if they're buying digital games?
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 7:56 am
Posted on 7/21/26 at 8:04 am to finchmeister08
quote:
Trend over time: Earlier lifetime data (through ~2024) showed a much higher disc edition share (~82% with disc drive in the US). The shift accelerated in 2025 with promotions and the Pro launch. By mid-2026, cumulative lifetime digital systems in the US exceeded 25%.
In the US (the market with the most available detailed data), approximately 49% of PS5 consoles sold in 2025 were digital-only editions
Again, the shift has been fast and drastic. Data from 2020 is completely irrelevant, this is about the future. So last year alone it went from 18% to 49%.
This aligns with game sales in 2025+ seeing 80%+ digital over physical and some games like Madden being single digit physical sales (9%).
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 8:07 am
Posted on 7/21/26 at 8:35 pm to UltimateHog
I'm not asking or expecting Sony to support physical games as first class citizens.
I contend they should allow them to exist as a niche product that diehard collectors and enthusiasts can still obtain if they want to.
Allow publishers to either print their own discs or put in custom orders at much higher prices than today if necessary. Many publishers won't bother but some will.
If the base physical version has to cost $100 or more that's fine, they would made in very limited quantities and custom ordered through boutique retailers.
The issue is they don't want that to exist. They are spinning it like their hands are tied but in reality they are going aggressively out of their way to purposely kill physical games completely when that isn't necessary.
The people who really advocate for physical games tend to be older gamers and have been their loyal customers for decades and that clearly means nothing to them, . making it look extra bad.
I contend they should allow them to exist as a niche product that diehard collectors and enthusiasts can still obtain if they want to.
Allow publishers to either print their own discs or put in custom orders at much higher prices than today if necessary. Many publishers won't bother but some will.
If the base physical version has to cost $100 or more that's fine, they would made in very limited quantities and custom ordered through boutique retailers.
The issue is they don't want that to exist. They are spinning it like their hands are tied but in reality they are going aggressively out of their way to purposely kill physical games completely when that isn't necessary.
The people who really advocate for physical games tend to be older gamers and have been their loyal customers for decades and that clearly means nothing to them, . making it look extra bad.
Posted on 7/21/26 at 10:21 pm to UltimateHog
quote:
No surprise here, 2026 is going to have single digit percentage physical sales. Bravo Sony.
The community note makes you look like a moron. You should probably delete your embed.
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 10:22 pm
Posted on 7/21/26 at 10:23 pm to UltimateHog
quote:
UltimateHog
The community note makes you look like a moron. You should probably delete your embed and come to the understanding that you are willing to acept obvious lies clearly put out by Sony to "slow the bleeding" in an effort to avoid the reality that you are completely wrong about this issue.
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 10:24 pm
Posted on 7/21/26 at 10:35 pm to StansberryRules
quote:
I'm not asking or expecting Sony to support physical games as first class citizens.
I contend they should allow them to exist as a niche product that diehard collectors and enthusiasts can still obtain if they want to.
Allow publishers to either print their own discs or put in custom orders at much higher prices than today if necessary. Many publishers won't bother but some will.
If the base physical version has to cost $100 or more that's fine, they would made in very limited quantities and custom ordered through boutique retailers.
The issue is they don't want that to exist. They are spinning it like their hands are tied but in reality they are going aggressively out of their way to purposely kill physical games completely when that isn't necessary.
The people who really advocate for physical games tend to be older gamers and have been their loyal customers for decades and that clearly means nothing to them, . making it look extra bad.
I'd be fine with this, but it isn't niche.
The propaganda pieces put out today are completely misleading. How many game releases has Playstation had this year? 8? 7 of those selling more than 100,000 physical copies in the USA alone is evidence of the opposite of what they're trying to say.
Anyway, here's some legitimate analysis:
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. quote:
Sony's FY25 results highlight the games industry's long-running trend of digital-first earnings. Sony's games division earns most of its money from digital thanks to the potent combination of microtransactions and full game sales. Despite digital's dominance, the group is still shipping tens of millions of game discs every year.
Last year, Sony recorded that there were 69.9 million PlayStation game discs shipped throughout FY25. That's a reduction of 2.9 million from FY24 (down nearly -4%), but still representative of strong demand for physical media.
Throughout the entire year, Sony sold a total of 317.9 million games on the PS4 and PS5, including both game discs and games sold on the PlayStation Store.
Physical represented just 22% of this total, or 69.9 million units, whereas digital made up 78%, or a staggering 248 million units.
The skew also brings to mind one of digital's biggest advantages: direct access to the consumer, which allows for easier execution of strategically-planned discounts.
A big reason that Sony is able to sell so many digital copies is because these games often go on sale with major discounts, with many of the best-selling games priced anywhere from $5-15. While the holiday period makes up the bulk of the sales period, a lot of these promotions are seasonal and held multiple times throughout the year.
This effect is amplified for annualized sports games like EA's and 2K's lineup, which typically go on sale for drastically discounted prices and will sit on the PlayStation Store's best-sellers lists for as long as they're on sale.
Retailers, on the other hand, have to manage their own sales in specific ways and aren't always as quick to make such heavy discounts on a direct and cyclical basis.
In any case, we shouldn't worry about Sony phasing out PlayStation game discs any time soon, not when there are still nearly 70 million physical games being shipped over a year's time.
Sony is currently investing into its next-gen PlayStation 6 console, which could be all-digital by default but may also feature an optional disc drive similar to the current PS5 lineup.
PlayStation is also doing so well right now that Sony expects the games division to deliver record operating profit even as it starts to invest more heavily into the PS6 ecosystem.
This post was edited on 7/21/26 at 10:36 pm
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