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Alanah Pearce - Sony’s Greedy Disc-Killing Move Was Inevitable: The Death of Physical Gaming (And Why Outrage Won’t Stop It)

Lunatic_Gamer

Lunatic_Gamer

Member


AI Summary:

Sony is axing physical PS game discs for new releases starting 2028, going fully digital. Outrage is loud, but everyone's missing the cold truth: this was always inevitable.

• "Consumers prefer digital" — mostly true, with physical now ~3% of sales. But millions still buy discs, especially younger gamers (25% under 25). Sony's just following profit: digital locks in their 30% cut with zero resale or competition.

• Real damage: Game preservation dies. Delisted titles (licenses/music expire) vanish forever. No sharing beloved games with kids. Second-hand markets — lifeline for many — collapse. Ownership becomes a rental.

• Monopoly move: Future consoles drop disc drives. Every sale funnels through Sony's store. They've already A/B tested prices. PC has alternatives; PlayStation won't.

• Petitions and backlash won't stop it. Earnings reports and factory shifts prove Sony's committed. Gamers embraced digital convenience — now corporations cash in by ending true ownership.
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r4vio981 said:
Just get a PC, or Helix. The disc is what made PlayStation a name in the industry, and it will be its downfall as well.
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Saying physical games is what made playstation a "name in the industry " makes no sense since 85% of sales are digital. Sony is just following the market not killing a thriving business. By 2028 those 15% are probably less than 10%.

Also "buy a pc instead that also doesn't have physical games" makes no sense for obvious reasons.
 
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Tiago Rodrigues said:
Saying physical games is what made playstation a "name in the industry " makes no sense since 85% of sales are digital. Sony is just following the market not killing a thriving business. By 2028 those 15% are probably less than 10%.

Also "but a pc instead that also doesn't have physical games" makes no sense for obvious reasons.
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CD's were a big selling point of the origional PS1, and PS2 being a DVD player as well was a huge thing. Play your movies and games on one device. That was kind of revolutionary at the time before everything was digitized. This is pre-internet.
 
When the message to your fans is there is nothing you can do about it why do you assume you will still have fans next gen?

Sure, we can't control Sony HQ's micro decisions....but we can control where we play our games. Without physical Playstation doesn't make sense as a platform. There is heavy handed censorship without any of the advantages of PC gaming. They have a platform they want to sell for 1000 dollars but they want to make the games e for everyone. I could stand it when they had my loyalty due to years of excellent service but honestly I don't play old games and if I did Playstation isn't the right platform so fuck my library. I'm ready to move on.

If they want to get rid of the censorship I can consider a PS6 or if they bring back physical, but I ordered a 5070ti already and it arrives today.
 
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r4vio981 said:
Dude Helix is looking pretty promising so long as Xbox doesnt F it up. You'd have access to your Steam library. Imagine a PC with the efficiency of a console. Never thought id see the day!
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You really think the company in financial turmoil that just flip-flopped-doubled-down on exclusivity is going to give you access to a store on their console that undercuts their own store price?
 
r4vio981 said:
Dude Helix is looking pretty promising so long as Xbox doesnt F it up. You'd have access to your Steam library. Imagine a PC with the efficiency of a console. Never thought id see the day!
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Undervolting my processing and GPU has my 5080 PC running under 300w, that's about 40w more than ps5 on average.


Were already here if you care to be.
 
Tiago Rodrigues said:
Saying physical games is what made playstation a "name in the industry " makes no sense since 85% of sales are digital. Sony is just following the market not killing a thriving business. By 2028 those 15% are probably less than 10%.

Also "buy a pc instead that also doesn't have physical games" makes no sense for obvious reasons.
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Digital PC market is completely different than a console with one singular digital store to buy games on
 
DeepEnigma said:
Still hanging onto that old rumor, eh?
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Not really i just was looking into it just now. IF theyre able to have steam on the Helix, then its a huge win. If nit then yea PC is still better.

Helix does gain a lot of value if it also acts as a PC though, but if it has steam, where I have hundreds of games. That'd be sick.
 
Puscifer said:
Undervolting my processing and GPU has my 5080 PC running under 300w, that's about 40w more than ps5 on average.


Were already here if you care to be
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Thats cool, I mean more gaming optimization. I should have said that more than efficiency. Console games have been better optimized for too long.
 
There is a way to stop it. STOP GIVING THEM MONEY. If you are one who preordered GTA 6 and buy many digital games then please.....

penn jillette shut up GIF
 
r4vio981 said:
Thats cool
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Frosty even

r4vio981 said:
Thats cool, I mean more gaming optimization. I should have said that more than efficiency. Console games have been better optimized for too long.
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That makes sense. I was okay with brute force stuff for years but we've reached a point the best move is make a cross platform game with enhancements. I love having PCs running for 10 years and that games, if they care too, can still run on 1000 series GPUs (see: Alan Wake 2)

It's clear we've reached a point where RT and Neural stuff is the end game of rendering techniques.
 
r4vio981 said:
Not really i just was looking into it just now. IF theyre able to have steam on the Helix, then its a huge win. If nit then yea PC is still better.

Helix does gain a lot of value if it also acts as a PC though, but if it has steam, where I have hundreds of games. That'd be sick.
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Quit turfing, bro.
 
r4vio981 said:
Not really i just was looking into it just now. IF theyre able to have steam on the Helix, then its a huge win. If nit then yea PC is still better.

Helix does gain a lot of value if it also acts as a PC though, but if it has steam, where I have hundreds of games. That'd be sick.
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Let me ask you this. Why are XBOX fans so excited to have their console become a PC? I am on record saying I might get a Helix console over my next windows gaming PC but I would much prefer to have an actual XBOX console that has its own library. Instead, I will be basing my decision on which makes the better SFF Windows PC for gaming. Helix or just building. 🤷‍♂️
 
Tiago Rodrigues said:
Saying physical games is what made playstation a "name in the industry " makes no sense since 85% of sales are digital. Sony is just following the market not killing a thriving business. By 2028 those 15% are probably less than 10%.

Also "buy a pc instead that also doesn't have physical games" makes no sense for obvious reasons.
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Microsoft, Valve, GOG, etc can't take our games away from us. The market is a trust based system they break our trust we go back to piracy.

Sony can and will take your games away from you. Nintendo can and will take your games away from you. Nintendo drips feeds it's fanbase because if you give people to many options you might have to put Mario Kart World on sale.
 
Tiago Rodrigues said:
Saying physical games is what made playstation a "name in the industry " makes no sense since 85% of sales are digital. Sony is just following the market not killing a thriving business. By 2028 those 15% are probably less than 10%.

Also "buy a pc instead that also doesn't have physical games" makes no sense for obvious reasons.
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*Laughs in GOG and itch.io
 
r4vio981 said:
Not really i just was looking into it just now. IF theyre able to have steam on the Helix, then its a huge win. If nit then yea PC is still better.

Helix does gain a lot of value if it also acts as a PC though, but if it has steam, where I have hundreds of games. That'd be sick.
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What's sick about a Xbox that's really just a PC? I mean....unless they can come in incredibly cheap, I don't get the appeal.
 
Ebrietas said:
So what? You don't own your digital PC games no matter how many digital stores you can choose from.
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With GOG you actually do. You can burn them into physical and keep them. That's not even the point. The point is with PC it's multiple stores competing. On consoles it'll be only one store soon and no other option. Prices will go and stay high because you can't do anything about it.
 
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Hang on. So no longer selling discs is a blow to game preservation (guess PC has been fucked for over a decade then...), but also is closing the DIGITAL store on PS3/Vita ?

Also, bit late to this particular grift aren't we ?
 
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