Sony is still planning to end PlayStation discs in 2028, even after hearing the obvious complaint from players: a download library is only as durable as the company account and storefront behind it. Chief financial officer Lin Tao said on an earnings call that Sony will stop producing physical discs for PlayStation games as of January 2028, while acknowledging through an interpreter that the company is moving carefully because players have strong feelings about the change.
Tao said Sony reached the decision after weighing “various reasons,” with the biggest driver being the broader move toward digital content. She said the company had spent time considering the future of game distribution and would proceed cautiously.
The announcement has drawn pushback from gamers and people in the games industry who object to a console future built around licenses rather than discs. The concern is not academic. Digital purchases are typically governed by license terms, and access can change if rights expire, accounts are restricted, or a store shuts down. Players also worry that some games could become harder to obtain if Sony eventually closes digital storefronts.
Why is Sony ending PlayStation discs?
Sony’s stated reason is that customers already buy most PlayStation games digitally. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, digital downloads made up 78 percent of Sony’s full-game unit purchases, according to the company.
Independent sales data points in the same direction. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella shared figures this month showing that 100 PlayStation games sold more than 100,000 physical units in the first half of 2008. In the first half of 2026, only seven did. Circana’s broader U.S. data said physical game sales fell from 297 million units from June 2008 through June 2009 to 37 million units in the most recent year measured.
Tao also addressed the emotional part of the backlash. She said games are widely loved, often tied to memories, and that Sony understands those attachments. She said Sony wants to keep studying how it should engage players in a future digital ecosystem.
What Sony says about the business impact
Asked about the financial effect of dropping discs, corporate communications executive Ishii said Sony has not yet seen an impact, according to a transcript of the call published by Investing.com. Ishii said content sales are already largely digitized, so Sony does not expect the end of discs to hurt the business. The executive added that Sony still has to consider player feedback because users have attachments to physical media.
Sony executives were also asked how PlayStation will stand apart from PC gaming once discs are gone, since PC games are already mostly distributed without physical media. Tao said Sony does not see discs as the main difference between PlayStation and PC. She pointed instead to curated content, a stable game environment, and lower cost compared with high-end gaming PCs, according to the transcript.
The manufacturing shift appears to be underway as well. The Verge reported that Sony has begun repurposing its disc factory to produce optical microlenses. Sony has not framed that factory move, by itself, as the whole reason for ending PlayStation game discs, but it fits the same direction: less plastic media, more digital control.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
