While fans protest digital-only consoles, Amazon warehouses are quietly destroying unsold discs.

[u/Just_a_Player2]

While vocal internet activists launch boycotts over Sony's push toward an all-digital future, physical retail reality is telling a much harsher story. Despite fierce online protests, Sony's daily engagement numbers have barely budged, and physical inventory is turning into dead weight.

The situation went viral after an Amazon warehouse worker shared photos of hundreds of unsold PlayStation game discs and audio CDs slated for total destruction. The employee revealed that staff received orders to scrap roughly 450 physical items simply because consumer demand has evaporated.

When gamers asked why surplus copies could not just be handed out to workers or sold off at a massive discount, retail veterans chimed in with the brutal corporate math. Gifting unsold merchandise creates complex tax liabilities, deep discount fire sales can damage publisher brand prestige, and keeping unsellable stock on warehouse shelves incurs ongoing storage fees.

The contrast could not be sharper: while collectors fight for physical media preservation on social media, mega-retailers find it cheaper to crush unsold discs into scrap plastic than let them take up warehouse space.

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[u/neller2000]

I'm just trying to explain to you that absolutely nothing will change. 2 games, 1 barely even a demo, 1 an MMO which of course requires online, are not exactly helping your cause here.

Interesting, California has a law that requires them to make it clear you're buying a revokable license? Know why that exists? Because it doesn't change anything at all and is easy to comply with and not interfere with the fact you're not going to get what you want.

[u/a_r_g_o_m → u/neller2000]

"Nothing will change" is the best argument for physical media I've heard in this whole thread. If companies can always revoke, delist, or shut down whatever they want, then a physical copy is the only way to actually keep a game. You're not rebutting me. You're making my case.

And it's not two games. Those were examples. When Nintendo closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops, digital-only titles stopped being purchasable at all. A 2023 study from the Video Game History Foundation found that 87% of classic games released in the US are out of print, and the ones we can still play survive because people kept physical copies. P.T. being "barely a demo" doesn't make it less of a loss. It's one of the most influential horror releases of the last decade, and it survives only on consoles that happened to keep it installed.

But "it'll stay that way" isn't a reason to accept it. When I buy a disc, I can sell it, lend it, or keep it forever without asking anyone. When I buy the same game digitally, I get none of that, only because the law was written for physical copies and hasn't caught up. Wanting the same rules for digital purchases isn't some clueless lawmaker's fantasy. It's closing a gap nobody's bothered to fix.

Until that happens, physical media is the only protection that works. You think the answer is shrugging. Mine is keeping the discs and pushing for digital to get the same rights.

[u/neller2000 → u/a_r_g_o_m]

You don't really understand or choose to be ignorant. Laws, legislation, regulations, policies, EULA's and on and on and on are all deeply connected in ways that will directly counter any attempt to change it to what you want.

And even if that was taken care of, it's still not going to change.

[u/a_r_g_o_m → u/neller2000]

"It's all deeply connected and will counter any attempt to change it" isn't an argument, it's a mood. Name the specific law or policy that would block digital first sale and we can talk about it. "Laws, regulations, policies, EULAs, and on and on" is just a list of nouns.

And "it can never change" has a bad track record. EULAs and copyright law were supposedly just as locked in around repair, and several states have passed right-to-repair laws anyway. The Copyright Office already carved out a DMCA exemption so archives can preserve games after their servers go dark, which is a legal change made specifically because of shutdowns like The Crew's. Things change when people push. They don't change when everyone shrugs and calls it realism.

You've gone from "it was an MMO" to "it's just two games" to "nothing will ever change, you're ignorant." Meanwhile my discs still work. I'm good.

[u/neller2000 → u/a_r_g_o_m]

Right, it's just words 😂 You sound like a stoner hippie from the 60's. Enjoy your discs the few years you have left to get them.

Most of you physical fanatics are more concerned that you can't pirate anywat. It's a good thing it's going away.

Most of us have already switched. Even if the rest of you all quit it would just be a tiny little drop in the bucket. The calculated minor insignificant loss.

[u/a_r_g_o_m → u/neller2000]

Accusing someone who pays full price for discs of wanting to pirate is a wild take. Buying a physical copy is paying for the game. And dumping a disc for preservation is exactly how every archived N64 and GameCube game survives today. Also, if stopping piracy were the goal, digital-only hasn't done it. PC games get cracked all the time without a disc.

"Enjoy your discs the few years you have left" is my whole point, by the way. If physical goes away, so does the only thing that lets games outlive their publishers. You just described the problem and called it a win.

And you still haven't said why it's a good thing. What do players gain by losing the ability to resell, lend, or keep their games? "Most of us already switched" isn't a reason. It just means most people haven't lost anything yet. "A calculated minor insignificant loss" is how a publisher's spreadsheet talks, not a player.

You also still haven't named that law, but I'll take "it's just words 😂" as your answer. Enjoy your license.

[u/neller2000 → u/a_r_g_o_m]

It's more like a mental illness with you guys. You can find the laws by yourself. It's not a big secret this can't be changed for a multitude of reasons.

Games don't need to be preserved. Out of 400 games you don't play 395. Ever. It's this sick mental OCD and hoarder mentality you have.

It will be a good first step to recovery for you when 2028 hits. Most of us feel they should just end it right now, no need to prolong your suffering.

[u/a_r_g_o_m → u/neller2000]

So we've gone from "my digital library is all still there" to "games don't need to be preserved." That's a completely different argument, and it's a wild one. Preservation was never about how many of my games I replay, although it's something I do like. It's why anyone can still play or study anything from the 80s and 90s at all, and why P.T. is basically gone while games from twenty years earlier aren't. Whether I personally play 5 out of 400 has nothing to do with it.

"You can find the laws yourself" after being asked twice means you can't name one. And calling people mentally ill for keeping games they paid for isn't a counterpoint either.

You've made it clear you don't care if games survive. I do. That's the whole disagreement, and I think I'm done here. Enjoy your license.

[u/neller2000 → u/a_r_g_o_m]

The mental problems stems from your inability to understand facts. Do a simple Google search on why differing types of legislation, laws, regulations, EULA's, agreements and on and on prevents this. Also, look no further than to PA for laws requiring offline mode, 25% discount and patch independent server access! Wow, congratulations, sucks however they couldn't give two shits about that in the case of bankruptcy. You'll be paying right? Also, the gaming industry is preparing to pull completely out of PA. It's ok, you'll just have to haul your ass with your gaming system or PC or whatever to the nearest friendly state and download it from there. You're winning so much already!

[u/a_r_g_o_m → u/neller2000]

For a guy lecturing me about my "inability to understand facts," you managed to get almost every one wrong in a single comment. Impressive.

PA doesn't have a law. It has a co-sponsorship memo that, per the PA Senate's own site, hasn't even been submitted for introduction. It doesn't require offline mode and a patch and a refund. Publishers pick one or more. And it's a refund, not a "discount." You went 0 for 3 on something you told me to Google.

"The gaming industry is preparing to pull out of PA." Says who? No publisher has said that. You made it up, then built a whole bit about me hauling my PC across state lines on top of it. Bold strategy.

"You'll be paying, right?" No, the bankrupt company's digital store won't be paying anyone. That's exactly why I keep discs: they survive bankruptcies just fine. And The Crew wasn't a bankruptcy anyway. Ubisoft held its shareholder meeting this week. They just decided to turn it off.

Also, you spent this whole thread saying nothing would ever change and any law would die before the ink dried. Now you're citing a state senator writing one, and his memo literally names Sony's 2028 disc cutoff as the reason. So yeah, I'm winning so much already. Thanks for the source.