Overview
- Sony announced July 1, 2026 that it will stop making physical discs for all new PlayStation games starting January 2028 and will route new releases through the PlayStation Store and participating retailers.
- The company says digital full‑game purchases made up roughly 78 percent of sales in the fiscal year ending March 2026, which it cites as the main financial reason to end disc production.
- Sony clarified that discs may still be produced for games released before the 2028 cutoff and that retailers may sell boxed download codes rather than physical game media.
- Fans, preservation groups and retailers have mounted sustained opposition with petitions totaling hundreds of thousands of signatures and legal complaints in multiple countries, raising concerns about resale, long‑term access and consumer rights.
- Sony DADC is repurposing manufacturing capacity — notably at its Thalgau, Austria plant — and analysts say a reversal looks unlikely unless consumer buying habits shift enough to change the company’s economics.