In the wake of PlayStation’s disheartening decision to kill off physical game discs by January 2028, the pushback from a community united against these anti-consumer practices has been uplifting to witness. From petitions with over 270,000 signatures to content creators openly criticising Sony while reaffirming the importance of game discs, it’s clear that physical media is not only still the preferred option for many gamers, it’s also way more important than you think. Here's what we've found based on what the community and industry are saying.

Complete Ownership



There is a long list of pros for why physical games still have a place in the modern age. When PC gaming gradually shifted towards all-digital, many physical game lovers found themselves gravitating more towards consoles simply for the fact that purchasing and owning physical game discs was still an option, especially on PlayStation. This ensured customers had complete ownership over their games. They weren’t just renting a license that could expire at a company’s whim. It was, for the most part, theirs to keep and enjoy forever. Movements like Stop Killing Games have been doing the legwork in trying to maintain this ownership, even if servers shut down (see Anthem or The Crew) and physical games don’t just become glorified coasters.

Share, Trade and Resell


Oh, sweet irony...

Of course, one of the most vital reasons why physical media has a place today is the ability to share the game discs with friends, trade it in, or resell it. The second-hand market continues to thrive even until today – a market PlayStation will destroy with its move towards an all-digital future, simply on the fact that Sony doesn’t earn maximum profits (or any profits at all) from resold games. It’s hard to look at Sony’s decision as being driven by anything other than corporate profit maximisation; a grim future where Sony has complete control over what games you “own”, what games you’re allowed to play, and how much you should be spending in a completely enclosed digital ecosystem.

Retail stores are also the houses for the aforementioned second-hand markets. If you can’t find a game being resold online in marketplaces, retailers often stock second-hand titles as trade-ins from other customers, giving players who couldn’t afford to buy a full-priced game the option the now buy it at a lower price second-hand. You don’t have to wait for a digital game to be discounted on online storefronts – sometimes discounted deals could take months to surface on the PlayStation Store, and there’s never a guarantee that it will be cheaper than what you can find at a retail store in the second-hand section.

Options Outside of Digital Price Monopoly

In retail outlets, physical games often get significantly cheaper over time than the digital counterpart. This provides better affordability options for players who perhaps don't have the money to spend day one on full-priced games, or in cases like parents with children. Physical has long been a means to access games at reasonable prices. Digital storefronts like PlayStation, Xbox and especially Nintendo have been known to retain launch prices for far longer than retailers do - in some cases, even indefinitely for first-party releases (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released in 2017 and it's still being sold at launch price to this day - actually even more expensive with the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition).

The Scary Realities of a Digital-Only Future



Digital gaming also has setbacks that haven’t been fully addressed yet. For example, if your account is banned, either intentionally or by accident, all of your purchases are lost. There are ways to reclaim your account, but PlayStation’s support is flawed (speaking from first-hand experience) and it’s a long and arduous process for many players to go through these channels. In regions where internet infrastructure isn’t reliable enough to download games online that could exceed 100GB of data, sometimes the only option is to get a physical copy and install the game directly from the disc. With no physical options left, Sony will be alienating a very large portion of its player base in those regions. Furthermore, physical games don’t require constant online check-ins or concerns about digital licenses expiring. If you buy a game, it’s yours and you can dictate when and where you play it. That should be the standard, not the exception.

On that note, once content is on a disc, publishers and developers can’t edit or remove content like they easily can in a digital game (through an update). Once it’s on the disc, that is the content that’s delivered to the masses on day one. Sure, if you choose to install an update for bug fixes, that’s still an option but the takeaway is it’s still an option. Through digital, players will no longer have options because the shape of a game can be changed or folded post-launch with no way to retain the original content. It’s a scary future.

Game Preservation (and GOG)



Finally, there’s the big reason why physical gaming is so important and will continue to be important: game preservation. Too often, games are lost to the march of time because they were simply never preserved correctly, source code got lost, or titles were locked to inaccessible consoles. Think of how long Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was locked as a PS3 exclusive, where the only way to play it was through a PS3 console (production was discontinued by Sony, making it difficult to reliably come by). Game preservation ensures games are not only preserved in complete states for future generations, but allowed to continue existing outside of the traditional publishing system.

I’ve already personally spoken highly about GOG (Good Old Games) at great lengths before. It’s a platform for PC games that prioritises DRM-free game preservation. As it stands, there are hundreds of classic games in its ever-expanding library of preserved, legacy titles – many games you could not find anywhere else, neither on PlayStation, Steam or any other digital storefront.

How You Can Fight Back and What The Community is Actively Doing



Letting your frustration and disappointment be heard over social media only goes so far. We see you on Reddit and we’re in the same boat. You have to hit them where it hurts: their wallets. For this reason, we urge those who share our sentiment to cancel their PlayStation Plus subscriptions until the message is heard loud and clear in the only language Sony knows how to speak: money.

We also strongly recommend moving over to PC to support platforms like GOG. There are dozens of guides online for building reliably affordable mid-range PCs that cost a fraction of what the all-digital PS6 will inevitably cost. Prebuilt PCs are also an option. Even with sweeping RAM shortages, the second-hand PC market is currently thriving and deals can be found aplenty if you look hard enough. Additionally, you don’t necessarily need a high-end rig to support older games or your backlog. A mid-range will be enough for now.

Without the appeal of physical game collections, there’s simply no reason for consoles to exist. They’re heading towards becoming PCs with contained digital ecosystems and once casual gamers catch on, they will realise that other digital ecosystems are not only more consumer-friendly but much more affordable as well (talking about GOG or Steam, for example). With the next generation of hardware also rumoured to cost well over $1,000, home consoles will no longer be the cheaper gateway option for players anymore – thus defeating the entire purpose of consoles.

Here's what some of our community members are saying:

DarkPrince:

"They are lying to consumers, trying to make people think digital is the preferred medium when it isn't, their only goal is become a monopoly on the games ... They have stopped releasing their games on Steam for this exact reason, they don't want any competition, they want to be the only ones that you can go to for the games, they will hold all the cards, control the pricing of games and control what you have access to."

IkariX:

"Sony must remember one thing. The fans are the ones that actually buy their stuff. Blindly supported Sony no matter what. I mean, I was one of the biggest fanboys out there, But I don't see any reason to buy a PS6. Digital games mean absolutely nothing to me, it literally has no value to me of any kind. I also like owning what I buy."

HaseoVII:

"Well, after being a PS guy for 25 years or so, since I could even hold a controller, it looks like Sony themselves have decided that they no longer want me. 'Vote with your wallet' has no chance of working either considering how many people prefer digital media, to not own anything. It's a dark time for us."

DaneB:

"Anyone thinking digital will become cheaper is smoking their socks. Add to this the fact that Sony still doesn't have a robust refund system in place and it's a real recipe for disaster. For publishers, squashing physical games has the knock-on effect of killing the secondary market, ensuring a single-user-per-game model, killing lending and renting, and more. It'll net them some money in the short term."

ElderofSmoke:

"I for one do not like this shift and will probably be part of the minority here, but leave the choice on how to play up to the player. Yes, I have digital only copies of games but I invest in titles twice if a physical copy of the game is a delayed release. At least give us that option. No physical on launch but only a few months away a physical will be available - I’ll take that arrangement. My backlog is huge so there is no need to for me to invest day one. I can wait. See! Choice. Give me that choice."

UmarB:

"An all digital future is just incredibly depressing. These companies have already shown they don’t really care about preservation either. It’s really hard not be completely bummed out by this news."

TheOneMCMK:

"After PS5 I'll move to PC. Yes it's still digital but you have more options to buy from (Steam, GOG, Epic etc), the sales are more frequent, the prices lower, the online services are not locked behind a pay wall. Physical games were one of the biggest pros to gaming on console Vs PC and Sony has squashed it. It's insulting to consumers to be expected to accept it because Sony wants maximum profit."

phreak:

"Sony was already treading water to me... now the straw that broke the camels back. Odds extremely high I won't be buying a ps6. And not buying their first party games either. EA and Ubisoft have been in my Sh#tlist for ages, so havn't bought anything from them in over 15 years. And I refused to buy from Capcom for various reasons for YEARS till they redeemed themselves with DMC5, ect. So when I say I'm boycotting sony first party stuff, I'm 100% serious.
So if I'll lose out on playing Wolverine, so be it!"

Marka100:

"I'm done with PlayStation. Cancelled my PS Plus won't be buying any more games. I will get a PC. Steam allows you try a game for 2 hours. There are sales all the time and much cheaper prices. I had the PlayStation because you could share, trade or sell discs. Digital only PC with Steam is way better."