{"id":65910,"date":"2026-07-04T00:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65910"},"modified":"2026-07-04T00:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:24:24","slug":"sonys-push-for-an-all-digital-future-raises-concerns-from-gamers-and-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65910","title":{"rendered":"Sony&#8217;s Push for an All-Digital Future Raises Concerns From Gamers and Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">On July 1, Sony announced that no new PlayStation games will ship on-disc from January 2028 onwards. This move to a digital-only future has sparked widespread backlash and concerns about game preservation and ownership, including in Sony\u2019s homeland of Japan, where developers and fans have also expressed disapproval of the move.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Hideo Kojima, although not addressing the situation directly, topically reposted his previous comments on the pitfalls of a digital-only future. In two tweets dating from August 2021, Kojima said that, \u201cEventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative. Whenever there is a major change or accident in the world, in a country, in a government, in an idea, in a trend, access to it may suddenly be cut off. We will not be able to freely access the movies, books, and music that we have loved. I would be a have-not. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m afraid of. This is not greed.\u201d <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Shueisha Games\u2019 Masami Yamamoto, who has been involved in game production for decades within the Sony group, discussed how PlayStation moving to a digital-only future might affect game publishing timelines. \u201cWe\u2019ll have about one-and-a-half months more to really polish the master if we don\u2019t have to make a disc version,\u201d Yamamoto said, before explaining that \u201ceven nowadays when day one patches are the norm, if there is a disc version you still need to get the game into a finalized state in which there are no serious flaws that would hinder gameplay.\u201d He added that on an ideal schedule, the master should be completed two months prior to the game\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The Best PS5 Games<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"&lt;h2&gt;The Top 25 PS5 Games&lt;\/h2&gt;  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;We\u2019re more than halfway through 2025, making it an excellent time to revisit our list of the best of what the PlayStation 5 has to offer. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;But what do we mean by \u201cbest?\u201d To be very clear, this is not an attempt at an \u201cobjective\u201d ranking that will indisputably line up with the tastes of gamers of all types. That, sadly, cannot exist; when one person\u2019s epic RPG masterpiece is another\u2019s boring and impenetrable slog, they\u2019ll never see eye to eye on where that game should rank against others of different genres. Even the personal lists of two people who love the same types of games will rarely line up exactly. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;Instead, this is a list of games that IGN\u2019s crew of PlayStation gamers recommend as a group, ranked using our Face-Off tool so that everybody got to weigh in equally on which games they thought should be placed above others. It\u2019s presented in the spirit of recognizing games we love, and encouraging others to try them if you haven\u2019t. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;With only 25 slots to fill, there are tons of amazing recent games that didn\u2019t float to the top \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t think they\u2019re awesome, too! Everybody who participated in voting has tons of personal favorites that didn\u2019t gain quite enough traction with the group to make the cut, which is inevitable when there are this many games and so many different perspectives. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;Bear in mind that while the PS5 is a powerhouse that can play any PlayStation 4-compatible game, for the sake of clarity our criteria for this list narrowed the pool down to focus on games that have PlayStation 5-specific versions. So while we still love games like the 2016 Doom, God of War, Minecraft, Red Dead Redemption 2, and many, many more, until they get that update they're relegated to the PS4 list \u2013 and of course many will have a spot on our list of the Top 100 Games of All Time.&#10;Most importantly, remember that this list is just our group\u2019s perspective and is no more \u201cright\u201d or \u201cwrong\u201d than a list that you create yourself. Speaking of which: if you have your own ranking you\u2019d like to put out into the world, we\u2019d like to invite you to make your own top 25 (or top 100!) list of PlayStation games using our Playlist tool and share it in the comments. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;The most recent updates were made on July 15, 2025\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">There is a lot of concern that going digital-only will deal a big blow to Japan\u2019s second-hand game stores and market. Voice actor and gamer Masaru Yoshimura was among those who expressed shock at Sony\u2019s announcement, commenting that, \u201cMy hobby is browsing PlayStation titles at game stores and I prefer physical game cases so this makes me way too sad.\u201d Others opined that one of the ways that PlayStation currently has an edge over PC is the option to buy your favorite games on disc. \u201cSome people choose to get the PlayStation version instead of the PC version because it&#8217;s on disc or it&#8217;s a limited edition physical version,&#8221; one person said.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Others questioned Sony\u2019s timing of this announcement, noting that it came on the same day as the announcement about shutting down the PS3 and PS Vita online stores. \u201cAnnouncing them both at the same time was bound to make customers anxious and think, \u2018Does this mean that corporate decisions could make digitally bought games I bought unplayable at any moment!?\u201d Indeed, the announcement also comes hot on the heels of Sony\u2019s upcoming deletion of over 550 movies purchased by PlayStation users \u2014 with no refund \u2014 prompting further distrust of a digital-only future. \u201cDigital is convenient but it only grants the right to play the game. Owning things seems like it&#8217;s becoming a value from the past, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d said one X user on the topic.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">On the flip side, some commenters pointed out that the writing has been on the wall for physical console games for a long time. Digital sales have been on an upward trend with Sony reporting that 78% of game sales in 2025 were downloads (although, this also includes games that do not have a physical release). In its PlayStation Blog post, Sony described phasing out discs as the company adapting \u201cto consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"faceoff-view-trigger\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">If games continue to get physical releases, it seems that they will be \u2018code in a box\u2019 affairs, like Grand Theft Auto 6\u2019s disc-less physical version, which caused a stir last month. All of this points towards a digital-only future for consoles, with both PS6 and Xbox\u2019s upcoming console, Project Helix, reportedly launching without a disc drive.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Elsewhere, the official UK Domino\u2019s Pizza account has been grilling Sony for the decision like its personal, issuing a mock statement that it will switch to digital pizzas only in response to gaming industry trends. KFC also dunked on Sony in a similar manner.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">A recent IGN poll found that 90% of readers do not support an all-digital gaming future, but recent statements from Sony suggest it is unlikely to backtrack on its decision, and it\u2019s already moving to reassign disc production workers to other areas of the business.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi\/Getty Images.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/the-view-from-japan-playstations-push-for-an-all-digital-future-raises-concerns-from-gamers-and-developers-including-a-well-timed-retweet-from-hideo-kojima\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On July 1, Sony announced that no new PlayStation games will ship on-disc from January 2028 onwards. This move to a digital-only future has sparked&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[25905,2110,4683,2562,7906,5639,1964,1838],"class_list":["post-65910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-alldigital","tag-concerns","tag-developers","tag-future","tag-gamers","tag-push","tag-raises","tag-sonys","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}