PlayStation has announced that it will be ceasing production on physical copies from January 2028, with future releases instead being sold through the PlayStation Store and retailers in digital formats only. It is being framed as a natural step towards how people play today, but for many, it feels like the beginning of a future where gaming becomes less personal and accessible.
This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today. – Playstation Blog
To say that we are disappointed would be a huge understatement. We appreciate that this shift is still some time away, however, this will have consequences for not only collectors but also the affordability of videogames worldwide.
Gaming is already becoming a massively expensive hobby, with Steam recently unveiling its Steam Machine to an eye-watering price due to the current RAM crisis, which has also caused the price for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to increase. In fact, things are only looking to get worse, as Micron have locked in their high memory prices for five years, which will have an effect on the next-gen consoles.
By going all digital, Sony will have far more control over pricing and distribution, because there will be no retail competition or used market to fall back on. Traditionally, since multiple stores would carry physical games, you would get a natural competition, with stores offering incentives or competitive prices to stand out. Not to mention, the used market itself makes the hobby more accessible to people, especially in the countries that don’t support a strong currency.
To play the devil’s advocate for a bit, compared to a decade ago, digital purchases have become dominant. On PlayStation specifically, Sony’s own financial reports show how sharply the market has moved away from discs, where back in 2025 digital downloads made up 78% of full-game software sales with its latest quarter reaching 85% digital. By comparison, in the financial year 2017, the digital sales were sitting at 32%. However, these do not properly reflect markets where affordability, resale value, physical retail discounts and second-hand copies still matter.
Countries like Pakistan, India, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and more don’t have the same spending power as the U.S. or UK. In those regions, a full-priced digital game is a big financial commitment. Sure, regional pricing exists on digital storefronts such as Steam and PlayStation Store, but it is often used unfairly. Pakistan, for example is not listed on PlayStation’s official country selector, and while India does have an official PlayStation Store, it still shows major releases priced as high as Rs 7000.
Let us put this into perspective, a Rs 7k digital game in India is basically a third of the average monthly salary, whilst £60 in the UK is just 2% of median full-time monthly earnings. For more comparisons, in Turkey a digital 2,999 TL game is closer to 9% of average monthly wages, while in Brazil, a R$400 digital game is around 12% of monthly earnings. It goes to show just how much more expensive digital games are in these countries, even with the regional pricing in place.
It is not just the price of the games either. A digital future requires players to have reliable internet, enough storage space and easy access to payment methods with the ability to download massive games without worrying about data limits or unstable connections. What is normal here in the UK or U.S., is not the reality for everyone around the world as people in the aforementioned countries still struggle with spotty connections and limited internet. I would argue that even we don’t have a robust infrastructure everywhere.
This also raises the question of ownership. When players buy a disc, they have something they can keep, lend, sell or pass on. With digital games, you are merely getting a license tied to your account. What’s worse, as the availability study by The Video Game History Foundation mentions, digital stores and services are volatile, because they might not stay available forever making it hard to preserve the history of video games. According to them, 87% of classic games are no longer in release and are considered critically endangered, with digital store shutdowns being one of the reasons games can disappear.
Sony’s announcement around PS3 and Vita stores shows exactly why this matters. Even if players can still download previously purchased content for the foreseeable future, new purchases are being phased out, making it impossible to obtain certain games through official channels once they disappear from the storefront.
Videogames are unlike any other medium, the appeal and love they have internationally can’t be replicated by movies, or any other form of entertainment. So, it is a bit heartbreaking to see this hobby will become even less accessible in parts of the world.
Physical games are a lot more than just collecting, they are birthday presents, Christmas/Eid gifts, siblings sharing games, friends lending copies and small shops surviving on used stock. There is a joy and connection involved with them that a digital only future will never be able to replicate.
There is still time for Sony to think carefully about what this decision means. PlayStation is loved all over the world and that, in our opinion, comes with a responsibility to consider everywhere people play games, so they can continue to afford and share a hobby that is slowly becoming out of reach for the very people who love it the most.
