Xbox and Nintendo have also been pushing consumers towards digital games.
Sony has announced that PlayStation is going all digital, with physical game disc production being discontinued starting January 2028. After this date, you’ll only be able to purchase new games digitally on the PlayStation Store and in retailers.
Sony says its decision is a response to “shifting trends in consumer preference,” with digital sales significantly outweighing physical. Last year, physical game distribution accounted for just three percent of PlayStation’s revenue, and the fact that the PS5 Pro launched in 2024 without a disc drive was a pretty good indication of Sony’s future direction.
The strategic shift will have no impact on physical games already released or those that are planned for release before January 2028, but the ramifications of the announcement are huge. The second-hand video game market will obviously take an enormous hit if people were no longer able to trade in their unwanted PS5 games. Retailers are also likely to feels some negative effects too.
The writing was already on the wall when Rockstar announced that it’s ditching discs for GTA 6, and today’s news will quash any hopes of that being an outlier. Physical discs might be good for the consumer and those who care about preservation, but the cost benefit of a digital-only model to companies like Sony is clear. Xbox has been moving away from physical for a while now, and even Nintendo, which remains the dominant force where physical game sales are concerned, seems to be nudging customers towards digital with comparatively cheaper prices and game-key card cartridges that don’t contain the whole game.
Sony waving goodbye to discs isn’t the only PlayStation-related news today. The company has also announced that it’s closing the PlayStation Store on PS3 and the PS Vita. Once they’re gone, it’ll no longer be possible to purchase new games or content on those platforms, although Sony will still allow people to download previous purchases “for the foreseeable future.”
In some markets these store closures will happen as soon as August 2026, but in the US you have until next summer, July 2027, to load up on any games you might want to add to your libraries. “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in a press release. “PS3 and PS Vita represent an important era in our PlayStation history, so this was not an easy decision for us to make.”
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