Well, it finally happened. Sony has announced that PlayStation disc production will come to an end by 2028, which subsequently creates the implication that the future PS6 console will be digital-only.
Naturally, a lot of folks are upset by this, and I’m certainly among them. But I can’t really say I’m surprised. I’m a PlayStation girl through and through, but years after buying the console at launch, I still only own a few physical PlayStation 5 discs. The vast majority of my PS5 collection is digital, largely because I’m too impatient to wait for a copy to arrive in the mail, or trek out to GameStop to buy one. And I’m clearly not the only one in this boat–Sony stated that the transition to digital-only games is a result of changing market trends. Essentially, Sony sells way more digital copies than physical ones, and third-party publishers also benefit more from digital game sales than physical ones.
While I completely understand the outcry–especially given the increasing support for media preservation as more and more games become inaccessible for modern players–I do fear we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. Physical media is not indestructible. Cassette and VHS tapes fall apart, discs get damaged or develop disc rot, your little brother shoves peanut butter in your game cartridge–shit happens. Shit happening is why I prefer a digital game collection over a physical one. If something goes wrong, I can re-download the game from the PlayStation Store. But now, the question becomes, “How long will the PlayStation Store be available on my console?”
Sony quietly slipped in another announcement alongside the news that it’s going all-in on digital game libraries: By this time next year, the PlayStation Store will no longer be available for the PS Vita or the PS3. That means any Vita- or PS3-exclusive game that isn’t downloaded to the device by July 2027 will be gone from the virtual storefront for good. If you can somehow find the physical discs of these games later on, you will still be able to play them on a Vita or PS3, but unless Sony works to make those discs playable on current-gen consoles or ports the digital copies of these games to the current PlayStation virtual storefront, it will be very hard to find a way to play them. The problem isn’t digital games themselves, it’s the fact that the move to digital-only forces players to rely solely on Sony’s goodwill when it comes to making sure the games they’ve paid for are still actually playable.
