Say it ain’t so — Sony has just announced that it is stopping physical disc production in January 2028 for new games that are releasing on PlayStation consoles.
Sony notes in the press release that “consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital” as the reason for the discontinuation. Any new games published after the January 2028 timeline will be available both digitally and in retail stores, but they will come with a digital download code (like what Rockstar is doing with GTA 6)
Now, Sony did note that this change doesn’t affect games that are already released or will be released in disc format before the January 2028 deadline.
“This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces discs,” Sony said in the press release. “This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.”
Sony also announced today that the PS3 and PSVita will have its online shops closed by July 2027.
As a little history lesson, Video games first appeared on discs with the PC Engine CD-ROM in 1988, with the Sega CD (1991) and the 3DO (1993) following soon after. Sony’s first console, the PlayStation 1 (1994), made the CD-ROM “the industry standard,” according to the Video Game Console Library.
Honestly, I’m sad to see physical media go on PlayStation consoles, but it was inevitable. Discs started to lose their lustre with the debut of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, making them act like download codes. Now that games are getting increasingly larger, I can see why it makes no sense to keep discs around, and games just don’t fit on them anymore.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
