Sony goes radio silent after announcing end of PlayStation physical discs

Angry gamers are waiting to ambush the company's next Twitter post

Last week, Sony dropped a bomb: the company will stop producing physical discs for PlayStation games starting in January 2028. To put it mildly, the news was not well received. X users dogpiled the company for a move that will further diminish consumer rights, while game industry veterans mourned the end of an era.

PlayStation's X account has been completely inactive since delivering the news last Wednesday. For context, the company usually posts multiple times a day, with links to trailers, sales, and more; you know, corporate social media stuff. PlayStation's maligned post has 150 million views and thousands of negative comments, with users poised to ratio Sony's next message into oblivion.

Consumer petitions and piracy

In response to the move, over 125 thousand consumers have signed a petition urging the company to reconsider. “A disc is a real game you own. You can lend it, trade it, resell it, gift it, collect it, or pass it down to your kids. A box with only a download code is not the same thing. It is a digital license in plastic packaging. You do not own it. You are renting access that can be revoked,” the petition reads.

Just last month, PlayStation removed over 500 movies from PSN accounts after a rights holder contract expired, meaning even users who had paid for these films could no longer access them. Others who are dismayed by Sony's pivot from physical media have pointed out a PSN policy that allows the company to delete users’ accounts after 36 months of inactivity, revoking access to their purchased digital library.

The dawning realization that users don’t own digital games has led to a surging interest in piracy, just as hackers have found a way to jailbreak the PS5. Searches for the term ‘PS5 jailbreak’ are up on Google.

The game industry responds

Game industry veterans have been similarly despondent. Legendary Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima brought up Sony’s decision at a film festival in Italy, pointing out how it’s frightening that publishers now have so much control over what games we can access. A 2021 tweet by Kojima saying,“Eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative,” also resurfaced.

Numerous game companies associated with physical releases, like Atari, Silver Lining Interactive, Lost in Cult, Limited Run Games, and Strictly Limited, condemned the move. “We are profoundly disappointed by Sony’s decision to suspend physical games production in 2028,” Iam8bit co-owners Jon Gibson and Amanda White wrote on X.

Brands and politicians get involved

Sensing the low-hanging fruit, a long list of brands began dogging on Sony to score points with consumers. Dominos, GitHub, KFC, and many others turned the PlayStation post into a meme, announcing the switch to digital-only wings and so on.

Meanwhile, French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon sounded off on the announcement, criticizing the notion of companies selling digital media that can be revoked. He promised to open an investigation into the matter next year. “Players have rights too!” the auto-translation of the Tweet reads.

It’s hard to know if Sony expected such massive pushback to its decision. Part of its rationale for killing physical disc releases on its platform is that the majority of players purchase games digitally at this point, with some analysts indicating that physical games only account for around 20% of sales on PlayStation.

However, while physical game releases are already an imperfect form of preservation, as most new releases receive expansive day-one patches that instantly render what’s included on a disc obsolete, it’s clear that many players still want to have the option to buy a disc over a digital license that can be revoked on a whim. We'll find out soon whether PlayStation's silence means it's reconsidering its position or if it's just trying to lie low until things "blow over."