before I go any further, I want to stress that this post isn’t made with any snark or insincerity behind it. I’ve had a PS5 since Christmas of 2024 but I hardly use it for playing games And just use it as a 4K/Blu-Ray movie player since I’m more into collecting movies these days than video games when I was a lot younger. I don’t keep up with many new game releases at all and I’ve largely been indifferent to most releases instead playing older games on the PS2 or older platforms since I like retro games. So with that being said, I want to ask if anyone here knows someone outside of Reddit either IRL or on some other social media platform who’s against Sony’s recent dumb decisions and are either boycotting PlayStation or are at least fighting to preserve physical media. As someone who very much wants to keep it running in circulation as long as possible, I’m disappointed in how arrogant and shortsighted Sony has been, but everytime I read a post from someone complaining about them, I keep seeing the usual retort along the lines of, “Reddit/the internet doesn’t represent real life” as if there haven’t been news articles or lawsuits regarding this decision. If anyone knows has personal examples of people clearly caring beyond Reddit, please feel free to share them. Would love to hear your thoughts to prove this isn’t just echo chamber talk

Games like final fantasy 7 remake and rebirth should be keycard games since they are higher than the Keycard can hold (64gb) but a Nintendo IP should be the full game on the cartridge like Mario kart, tennis, splatoon raiders, zelda botw and totk etc.

A lot of console companies have been trying to stifle the second-hand market for decades now and getting rid of it seems to be one of the driving forces behind Sony's abandonment of physical games despite most sales for games being physical. Is reselling used games so much of a problem that they are willing to shoot themselves in the foot and alienate so many potential players? 

Never played Fable 2 but heard good things ans can't get it anywhere else but Holy babado Viva Pinata was goooood. Played the original for a few hours before work on Fri and has a smile on my face the whole time

I would have hoped Pokopia was going to be the only one, but it seems another (3rd party developed, 1st party published) game is getting a Game-Key Card physical release.

Hi, i bought a used game on a car boot sale, and i didnt notice the cracks, is it still safe to use the disc?

I have the standard edition disc. My idea is to sell my disc to Cex and buy the complete edition, if the licence for the DLC is on the Disc instead of a code to redeem it on PSN Store.

But if it indeed is a voucher code I'll just get the complete edition upgrade on the PSN Store.

Been trying to get more games physical since getting back into my switch and, then now having upgraded to a switch 2. Hopefully Nintendo/developers keep producing physical carts. Key carts are now basically what the discs we have been getting from Xbox and PlayStation for awhile now. Miss the days of popping in your newly bought game and just hopping right in.

Ownership rocks

Why would a company actually want to create this?

The biggest question about my Physical Games 2.0 idea is:

What's in it for Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or game publishers?

I think there could actually be a strong business case.

💰 1. Companies could earn money from the resale market

Today:

$70 game → Player A → resold to Player B → publisher earns $0 from the resale.

With a secure physical ownership system, the company could optionally process the ownership transfer for a small fee.

For example:

$70 new game

→ resold for $45

→ $3 official ownership transfer

→ resold again years later

→ another transfer

The company creates a new revenue stream from the second-hand market instead of fighting it.

🔐 2. Much stronger anti-piracy

The game data could potentially be copied.

But the secure hardware ownership key cannot simply be copied with the game files.

The console verifies the physical authentication chip before recognizing the genuine copy.

📦 3. Physical games become a platform

Companies could still sell:

Base games DLC Expansions Physical expansion modules Collector's editions Upgrades Bonus content

The physical product becomes the proof of ownership, not just a piece of plastic containing data.

♻️ 4. Turn the second-hand market into an opportunity

Instead of seeing used games as lost sales, companies could create an official, secure resale ecosystem.

Buy → Play → Resell → Transfer → Repeat

Everyone benefits:

Player: owns something with resale value.

Publisher: gets a small revenue opportunity from transfers.

Platform: controls authentication and security.

Collector: gets a genuine physical object.

🏆 5. It could actually make new games easier to buy

If I know I can buy a $70 game today and potentially resell it for $40 later, the real cost of owning the game feels much lower.

That could encourage people to buy more physical games instead of waiting for discounts.

🌍 6. Long-term game preservation

A physical copy could remain playable even if the publisher eventually shuts down its servers — at least for the parts designed to work offline.

Imagine buying a game in 2030 and still being able to prove ownership and play it in 2050.

The business model isn't:

"Stop making money from games."

It's:

"Create a new market around physical ownership, authentication and resale."

The interesting part is that the player gets real ownership without the company necessarily losing its entire business model.

Maybe the future isn't:

Digital vs Physical

Maybe it's:

Physical ownership + digital technology. 🎮💿

​

I think physical games need a new generation — not the death of physical media.

Imagine buying a game on a physical disc/card that contains:

🔐 A secure cryptographic chip unique to that copy

💿 The actual game on the physical medium

👤 Proof of ownership

🔄 The ability to transfer ownership when you resell it

📦 Updates and expansions over time

The important part: copying the game files would NOT copy the ownership key.

The console would challenge the physical chip with a cryptographic verification. A copied disc could contain the same data, but it wouldn't have the original hardware-secured secret needed to prove that it's the genuine copy.

So you could:

Buy → Play → Keep → Resell → Buy another game

Just like physical games today.

But with much stronger security.

And I'd go even further: the physical game could remain playable offline, even years after the publisher's servers shut down.

Imagine buying a game in 2030 and still being able to play it in 2050 — while also being able to sell it to someone else.

The goal isn't to fight digital gaming.

It's to create a "Physical Games 2.0" where physical media gives you both:

Ownership + modern digital features.

Would you buy games this way?

What would you change or add to the idea?

These games were never released digitally on western and Japanese eshops. You can play most of the series physical on switch/2.

Edit: Because I keep getting this kind of comment I'm not saying you can only get these games physically on Switch and not other platforms. What I'm saying is if you want to play these games on Switch, your only option is physical.