Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs React to PlayStation Ending Physical Discs: “It's a Shame”

Over the past few weeks, few topics have sparked as much passionate debate across the gaming community as the industry's aggressive push toward an all-digital future.

When PlayStation surprisingly announced that it plans to sunset physical disc production entirely by 2028, it sent shockwaves through the industry, reigniting fierce discussions about digital ownership, game preservation, and physical collecting. The decision has sparked reactions from all corners of the community – including the creative minds behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive's 2025 Game of the Year winner and the most awarded title in history.

The Loss of Tangible Art and Ownership

In a recent interview for AUTOMATON, key members of the Expedition 33 development team sat down to reflect on PlayStation's drastic shift and share how their own love for physical media shaped their decision to release boxed copies of their record-breaking RPG last year.

For creative director Guillaume Broche, for instance, Sony's decision to phase out physical discs hits at something deeper than just supply chain logistics, but it actually strikes at the artistic soul of the medium.

“Personally, I find it super sad because I really like video game stores,” Broche shared during the talk. “Even if nowadays I play mainly on PC myself, we have a lot of people on the team who play on PS5 and love to collect physical discs. I think it’s part of the beauty of art too, and that it’s something tangible that you can touch. I completely appreciate that people want to have their rows of DVDs and games and just feel that they own them. So I think it’s a shame. Business-wise, I can understand why it may make sense, but in terms of the artistry of video games, it’s a sad decision.”

Broche's sentiments were echoed by CTO and programmer Tom Guillermin, who revealed that bringing Expedition 33 to physical store shelves was far from an easy financial choice. Manufacturing physical discs introduces strict production deadlines and significantly lower profit margins per unit compared to digital downloads. Yet, Sandfall Interactive fought for a physical release because they knew what holding a real box meant to fellow players.

One particularly touching highlight of the interview went far beyond player ownership, as the team opened up about the emotional, core-memory moments that only physical releases can provide to creators. Broche fondly recalled going into a local game store right after launch just to buy a copy of his own game as a symbolic gesture, as well as receiving a photo from a fan who spotted Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sitting on a shelf in Akihabara, Japan. Seeing their hard work localized on a physical box in Tokyo made the entire journey feel real – which, honestly, is the same feeling we get as players whenever we physically hold something special from our favorite games, right?

Finally, for lead character artist Alan Reynaud, seeing physical games on shelves is an irreplaceable ritual tied directly to nostalgia and childhood wonder, making the prospect of an all-digital landscape feel genuinely melancholic: "It’s nice to read on your phone and stuff, but having a real book is just a different feeling. And I don’t think we could imagine a world where manga is just scanned and stored on your computer. It would be sad to not have it in your library. I think the same applies for games. Sure, it makes more sense business-wise, but you lose the spirit of it."

And, to be completely honest, it is hard to argue with that perspective. While digital convenience is undeniable, holding a physical box years down the road acts as a time capsule, instantly triggering fond memories of the journeys we took inside those worlds – I, for example, only need to pick up one of the cartridges in my Nintendo 64 collection to instantly feel like a kid again. PlayStation's 2028 deadline might make financial sense on a corporate spreadsheet, but listening to the team behind the biggest game of 2025 reminds us of what we risk losing along the way: the tangible magic that turns digital software into cherished art.