Overview
- Sony announced on July 1, 2026 that it will make all new PlayStation game releases digital-only starting January 2028.
- The company has briefed retailers, placed notices on some PS5 consoles with disc drives, and begun repurposing disc plants and retraining workers while allowing boxed products that contain download codes.
- Players have mounted large petitions and protests and consumer groups and regulators in multiple regions have filed complaints or signaled scrutiny over ownership, resale and preservation concerns.
- Jacob Navok, a former Square Enix executive, argues that publisher-to-publisher competition on a unified PlayStation Store could drive more frequent sales and lower prices, while critics point to PlayStation Network’s past price stability and recent digital-only blockbusters as evidence that discounts may not follow.
- The phaseout could shrink the $7 billion second-hand disc market, reshape retail business models, and force close watching of PS Store pricing and publisher strategies as the industry adapts.