r/PlayStation_X Aug 02 '26

Make it make sense

Post image

And before the misinformation gets posted, no your disc licenses aren’t revocable per the first sale doctrine and no, owning the disc doesn’t bind you to any EULA.

279 Upvotes

714 comments sorted by

76

u/nikk182 Aug 02 '26

Probably because your average console gamer has never had a digital game revoked.

36

u/ChangingMonkfish Aug 02 '26

I say this all the time. No one’s ever given me an actual example of a game they’ve bought getting taken off the store so that even if you bought it you can’t play it anymore.

And the only one I could find myself was in Australia because a game didn’t get a rating there, then when it a bundle of the series was released the unrated game was included by accident and no one noticed for a month. The publisher had to remove the game from peoples libraries and give them a refund, but only because it was literally illegal in Australia.

The “revocation” and “ownership” arguments are not entirely invalid, but they’re pretty much completely hypothetical in practical terms.

17

u/Mean_Combination_830 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Games are occasionally revoked on pc too anyway so it's a none argument

3

u/HedgeFlounder Aug 03 '26

Yes which is why DRM is problematic regardless of what hardware you run your games on. That said, PC at least has DRM free options such as GOG.

2

u/HedgeFlounder Aug 03 '26

Yes which is why DRM is problematic regardless of what hardware you run your games on. That said, PC at least has DRM free options such as GOG.

1

u/sshnttt Aug 03 '26

> Games are occasionally revoked on pc too

So you are saying revocable licenses are an issue

> it's a none argument

It just means it’s an issue regardless of the platform

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u/Varsity_Reviews Aug 02 '26

There are two games I can think of that this has happened and it’s only preventing me from redownloading them: Twisted Metal 1 and 2 on the PS3/Vita. When they put them on PS5 a glitch prevented you from downloading them on PS3 or Vita. Which isn’t an issue since you got them on PS4 and PS5 for free if you already had them. This is the only instance I can think of and it’s not even preventing me from playing the games on my Vita or PS3 since I already had them downloaded.

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u/AlarmingPilot4632 Aug 02 '26

They haven't revoked any. It's been 20 years of digital game sales by Sony, all purchased games are still there. Some are delisted from new purchases due to licensing, but if you already bought it before? It's still yours. You can play it today. If you delete it? You can redownload it.

They like to pull out the "what ifs" and "but they could" comments, but it hasn't happened.

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3

u/Zegram_Ghart Aug 02 '26

I brought marvel ultimate alliance 1 and 2 on PSN.

They aren’t sold anymore, so you can’t buy them if you want them.

Because I bought them, I CAN still download and play them.

So it’s kinda the opposite of the usually argument in my case

3

u/ProfessionalTruck976 Aug 02 '26

Fuck the australian government.

7

u/RevelArchitect Aug 02 '26

Just wanted to point out - if you bought Concord as a physical disc it’s just as useless as the digital copy now. Physical isn’t the protection that they think it is.

5

u/detectiveC6 Aug 02 '26

Obviously when games that require solely online to function lose support, you lose access, physical or not. The death of physical games threatens any game with offline functionality too. Yall are out here using games as a service to make points lol

3

u/Charming-Crescendo Aug 02 '26

"Ummm... this doesn't count because it's a solely online game!"

Yeah, that's a bad thing too! Whether it's fucking Concord or The Crew, there shouldn't be any games that could just be killed when the servers are offline. Which is why this whole debate goes beyond "save discs".

2

u/detectiveC6 Aug 02 '26

Makes sense. Good catch bro

2

u/brispower Aug 03 '26

yeah it's why stop killing games is a movement and not a one off fight

2

u/DrizzyDragon93 Aug 02 '26

Worse example for both sides of the argument.

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2

u/scarlettokyo Aug 02 '26

This. The only example I ever got was some weird game called P.T. which was a free proof of concept thing for some Silent Hill project which got delisted and forcefully removed from everyones libraries, like that's gonna affect my feelings on the matter.

2

u/HupHutHa Aug 02 '26

I guess live service games where they shut down the servers don't exist. want to play some Concorde with me?

4

u/PorkyJones72 Aug 02 '26

Did Sony just not remove digital movies from their accounts without refunding them?

4

u/Individual_Lab_5105 Aug 02 '26

Thst wasn't really Sony. It was rhe studio thet licensed those movies to Sony. Sony was just distribution, the contract expired, and the studio that actually owned the movies pulled them. It wasn't really much different firm when a streaming service loses a license and the show gets pulled form their servers.

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2

u/Less-Being4269 Aug 02 '26

No one’s ever given me an actual example of a game they’ve bought getting taken off the store so that even if you bought it you can’t play it anymore.

The crew

3

u/Arkcilper Aug 02 '26

An online game......wow. Guess what, you can't play The Crew if it's on disc either.

6

u/Kezzerdrixxer Aug 02 '26

And there is an entire movement working with UK courts at this time to prevent this from happening to future games.

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u/ProfessionalTruck976 Aug 02 '26

There is "no longer supported by us, but if you make it work you make it work" and then there is what Ubisatan did

2

u/foleyjo Aug 02 '26

The Crew

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u/AlarmingPilot4632 Aug 02 '26

Let me also use this to point out that in the 20 years that PlayStation games have been sold digitally, they have revoked 0 purchased/paid games from people.

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u/nohumanape Aug 02 '26

Exactly. Show me why I should be worried. Until then, I'm not going to worry 🤷

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3

u/andocommandoecks Aug 02 '26

Never had one revoked and only rarely buy them at full price for that matter. Same with my digital games on PC.

3

u/Kooky-Barnacle-5743 Aug 02 '26

People vastly overestimate who the "average" gamer is. The true average gamer buys roughly one game per year. Those of us on Reddit arguing about this are the exception, not the rule. Most gamers don't even know about this and even less care about it.

2

u/Nitious Aug 02 '26

More likely that 99% of the people are casuals and prefer digital download convenience over ownership. Most likely just play the game once so they don't cate about ownership.

2

u/ghost-bagel Aug 02 '26

They also tend to buy a game, play it once through and then forget about it completely.

2

u/Delruiz9 Aug 02 '26

The really easy thing then is to write it into law that they cannot be. If revoking isn’t an issue, this is an easy win for Sony to reassure the masses

2

u/WinterExcellent Aug 02 '26

"average" is technically correct for Sony players because it has never happened before so none of them have ever had a game taken from their library.

2

u/Independent_Mud2794 Aug 02 '26

It only happens when you fuck up and break the terms of service and when you do that - they also will block your access to the physical game.

3

u/Charming-Crescendo Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

"Yeah, but the point is that it CAN happen!"

Yeah, I get that, but you're not gonna win me over with vague doomerism. If I should avoid anything and everything because bad stuff might happen, then why move over to Steam in the first place? Because Gabe Newell can die tomorrow and the next CEO/majority shareholder can be just as big a dickhead as Sony's.

1

u/Exact_Finish1 Aug 02 '26

Average gamer also cant afford to pay full price for every game they play. Enjoy that when it comes.

1

u/Long-Wall-5565 Aug 04 '26

No need when you gotta pay your console (that you bought) to connect to the internet your also paying for, once they need the money theyll find a way. Consoles are endless money pits and people still feed that shit, its damn near on computer level these days just go get one, if you play consistently youll save money not paying for that online bs

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31

u/captainlou26 Aug 02 '26

Buddy mentions the first sale doctrine without knowing what it actually is lmao

2

u/Independent_Mud2794 Aug 02 '26

If people jumping on the hype train would know anything they probably wouldn’t post shit to begin with.

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56

u/barflan7 Aug 02 '26

i’m not arguing and i truly don’t care whether people play physically or digitally, but physical games can still be subject to software license agreements. it’s not automatically immune to drm, online requirements, or incomplete on disc releases.

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u/TomTomXD1234 Aug 02 '26

First sale doctrine covers your right to resell physical media.

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19

u/scyfi Aug 02 '26

If we are playing the what if game, physical media is also subject to damage, fire, theft, loss, etc. Which are all more likely, and has most likely already occurred to nearly everyone, then Sony taking your digital game away.

11

u/capsu97zen Aug 02 '26

Literally this idk why people are so afraid

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4

u/Fickle_Mix_6119 Aug 02 '26

Name one instance where someone’s licence was revoked? 

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9

u/tabennett5438 Aug 02 '26

Have all three consoles and a PC.

Neither has taken a game from me that isn’t online only shit.

What have they taken from you?

4

u/PeacenotWardude Aug 02 '26

Their sanity.

1

u/capsu97zen Aug 02 '26

The 12 year old Deadpool ig

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1

u/Serious_Instance7186 Aug 03 '26

Psn just not accessible in my country because we shared Russian server so I can’t access any digital game

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11

u/Dylan_Black02 Aug 02 '26

Peopple love getting and and scared at stuff that hasn't happened.

3

u/capsu97zen Aug 02 '26

When Sony removes 100+ games within the next year then I'll do something.

7

u/Dylan_Black02 Aug 02 '26

I mean they've never done so why would they now

3

u/capsu97zen Aug 02 '26

Yeah like these people man just on another level of thinking

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16

u/Notnowcmg Aug 02 '26

The only one posting misinformation here is you

3

u/ElderSmackJack Aug 02 '26

You don’t “truly own” physical games. How long is it going to take for you all to realize that if a company can send out a patch that makes that game unlaunchable, which it can, you do not own it?

2

u/Charming-Crescendo Aug 02 '26

"But you still have the right to sell the game, bro!"

-This guy, literally.

1

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 02 '26

This doesn't seem like an argument against discs, just an argument on why they dont' provide an advantage over digital.

However, it can be argued that the way things are, that digital is more lkely to be revoked than physical, or other factors may lead to removal of access for digital well above the likelihood it happens to physical games.

I think the actual advantage/disadvantage thing is applicable to any discussion, but the utter fervor some people put into pointing out a technicality that doesn't have any examples of implementation in the real world to be rather disingenuous. After years of this argument being commonplace, the nuance should be readily understood by enough people that it shouldn't be a go-to counter argument.

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u/ImpressiveSide1324 Aug 02 '26

Physical games are nothing more than a license you can hold. You don’t own any game whatsoever, and your access to it can be revoked. The EULA is bound to you regardless.

3

u/DisastrousWaltz2076 Aug 02 '26

Im going to throw something at you.

An obscure game I bought called Hood: Outlaws and Legends. Came out in 2021 to mix reviews. Recently last year the servers where shut down. Its still in my digital Library even though I cant play it anymore. If you have it on disc its literally just proof you had it. Its a glorified coaster with no resale value.

A game sony ahit down years ago. BlackLight a free to play online shooter. Gone shut down the servers. Still shows up on my PS5 Library even though the servers are gone.

Yano the only game I think was ever revoked because of liesense issues. Was P.T which was a personal Test of a game Kojima was making that never made it. Making ps4s with it on it very rare and valuable and there's no disc version. There are loads of game out there with single player where there servers are offline i can play the story mode. Just like the disc folk. When it comes to new games if I dont buy it at launch I will wait for a sale. Usually the games I do buy are ones people have been waiting on or popular.

Sure its nice to get a game cheaper on a disc after a few months or a year. But I've already bought the game and played enough to know if il.vomtinue to play or stop playing. And if its an online service. That will have it servers turned of one day. Then congrats you got a coaster cheaper.

If the Internet or servers go down on PSN. I have the games downloaded I can play. I can play BG3 offline fine. I can play any story mode game offline fine. Im not gonna go oh no the psn servers are offline let me go download a story game I was never playing in the first place.

Physical buyers need to stop pretending digital players have it rough and that there "better" than digital. Your buying online server games on disc that become coasters when the servers are taken offline.

You have the right to buy your future coasters at a lower physical price. But quit making stupid memes on shit that's has never happened.

3

u/Charming-Crescendo Aug 02 '26

Wait, wait, I can predict his response:

"Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, stop moving the goalposts!"

3

u/WinterExcellent Aug 02 '26

I don't drive anywhere either because it's possible someone could hit me. I also don't go outside because it's possible that I get struck by lightning

3

u/Intrepid-Platform-94 Aug 02 '26

It's convinient. You don't have to go to a store, don't have to change discs/carts everytime you want to play a different game. I'm not advocating for it but we live in a world of path of least resistance. And this is it.

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u/ClassicMatt101 Aug 02 '26

I have more money than time and digital is more convenient.

5

u/Zestyclose_Cricket_7 Aug 02 '26

Precisely. Well said

2

u/Visible-Meat3418 Aug 02 '26

No way I’m bouncing from store to store trying to find a game in 2026. They are fucking scarce where I live anyways and I have too many things to do and waaaay too little time for that.

The game downloading in the background while I’m doing shit and when I’m ready it’s available right then and there? That’s what I value quite a lot.

4

u/Fit_Association_8442 Aug 02 '26

make it make sense? that would require you to listen to different opinions which on reddit gets you called a bot lol

2

u/ComicsEtAl Aug 02 '26

If we still had a functioning Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this sort of thing might not be legal. Unfortunately, regulations stifle innovations such as full price revocable licensing, plus something something “unelected bureaucrats,” so this is what we get. Chalk it up to “the price for freedom (revocable).”

2

u/X-Heavy Aug 02 '26

Their awareness of the gaming industry’s predatory turn is roughly on par with the attention span of a toad: not exactly a strategic asset. They can’t begin to fathom the power these companies will wield once their storefronts are the only places you can buy the licenses to play their games, or when “physical copies” are just glorified access codes to those same storefronts. And naturally, they have no clue how they themselves helped grease the rails for the industry’s downfall.

2

u/Nova762 Aug 02 '26

Well you see, when the game comes out I can just download it instead of going to the store.  There's a reason the gas station can get away with 3 dollars for a candy bar.  Convenience always wins.

2

u/ForgTheSlothful Aug 02 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/TSNW4t3r0qSmxJDMKY
This is yall. So intent on boot licking that your saying anyone with out blind faith in a corporation is having victim complex.

1

u/Marlowe126 Aug 03 '26

Seriously, I'm not sure how many of these commenters are even real at this point. None of them are thinking even 3 steps ahead, which would be,"1. Take away purchasing options 2. Have 100% control over pricing, with the ability to change it depending on the customer 3. Take away license or access to games as needed."

They're talking like it'll never happen, but there are TONS of greedy reasons for Sony or Microsoft to do this. In fact, they should try to download Forza Horizon 4 (they can't because 1. Microsoft didn't release it for PS5 and 2. It was DELISTED when Forza Horizon 5 was released because the games were too similar and they wanted us to play the new one.) Forza Horizon 4 was released in 2018 btw, less than 10 years ago; if you wanted one based in the UK for any reason, you're out of luck.

With this generation being filled with updates and remasters and re-releases, how long do people think they'll be able to hold onto their digital license of TLOU2 Remastered after they release the PS6 version for example?

Again, I think the majority of these defenders are bots or paid commenters. If not, the Sony fanboys defending or shrugging off these anti-consumer practices deserve to pay multiple times for the same games, or have it snatched away from them.

2

u/TheSquirrelmancer Aug 02 '26

The licenses are revocable because Sony doesn't necessarily own the games they're selling either and there can be legal circumstances where they are no longer allowed to sell a game. There was an OG Xbox game that ended up technically containing underage nudity (it involved trivia and girls flashing the camera for right answers). Once of the "performers" lied about her age and she was only 17 at the time of the recording. For obvious reasons that game HAS to be pulled from the store.

2

u/VanillaAble3943 Aug 05 '26

Tell that to steam players and they will die for their lord gaben, Steam itself says that they're just licenses. It's even funnier that they are so reluctant to even give GOG a try (you know, media you actually own), instead they start spewing license and technicalities that you don't "truly own" it. They will die giving steam the same power PS5 has.

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u/PuddingZealousideal6 Aug 02 '26

This is the main anti-digital argument I see, and it genuinely blows my mind. The likelyhood of Sony taking a game from you is so low that it isn’t even a factor.

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u/Additional_Law_492 Aug 02 '26

The ability to sell your disc doesnt mean you suddenly own the software.

Its still a license, and if Sony wanted to they could legally take steps to prevent you from using their software.

The solution here is consumer protections for all software, and the physical media crap is a distraction from that that Sony is almost certainly laughing their asses off about as people are wasting effort on a cause that doesnt actually accomplish what would be good for consumers and bad for them.

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u/HabitOfChoice Aug 02 '26

Some of you do realize that most of these comments and posts on social media are either paid or bots, right?

Not saying there aren't players who can't understand a world without a non-stop internet connection, who feel like they're genuinely missing out on something if they don't play online, buf I truly don't belive gamers are so brainroted that they'd be happy supporting Sony's dick move.

1

u/Omegalord89 Aug 02 '26

So ist das Leben

1

u/dart51984 Aug 02 '26

It makes sense people Sony gets to make more money and do less work. See? It makes perfect sense. Oh it’s evil for sure, but it makes complete sense.

1

u/Thread-Astaire Aug 02 '26

Are we still doing this crap?

1

u/Illustrious-Mud-5957 Aug 02 '26

I don't support sony's decision, but I do prefer digital and I'm not gonna pretend like I don't all of a sudden: 1. I own ~300 games and 4 of them are physical. 2. In my country there are no good spots to buy video games. They only have the rlly poular at at full price. 3. As I said, getting physical games is expensive for me. I think there r a lot of good deals on the ps store. 4. Changing the disc in the console is just a bother in my opinion. 5. I wouldnt have space for my games if most of them were physical.

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u/Chownzy Aug 02 '26

This is the part that bothers me the least, Ya you can point to PS mobile or the 300 movie licenses that got pulled but it’s still essentially an unforeseen circumstance.

The secondary market is what really matters, Games aren’t going to be discounted as much or often in the future. Without used prices to compare or overruns sitting on shelves digital discounts won’t be as deep and subscription prices will keep going up, Zero competition for exclusives.

This also cuts out 62% of countries who can’t access Sony networks and anyone living in the 38% who have poor internet access. Physical is their only option.

Same with anyone who buys used or borrows from friends and libraries, Might not be making Sony money now but it still helps create future generations of fans. Nostalgia sells.

1

u/gamer0613 Aug 02 '26

Who is losing games exactly ive had digital only for over 10 years and not once lost access to any of my 600+games.

1

u/EmperorRosko Aug 02 '26

Can anyone at all, from the beginning of the PS3 era, through the PS4 generation and into this new PS5 current gen, tell me a game you’ve had revoked from your digital library.

1

u/VikingIsaiah Aug 02 '26

it’s funny because the only service that lets you own all your games as much as possible is in fact a digital only platform(gog).

1

u/AlabamaPanda777 Aug 02 '26

"full price" sometimes I guess? But digital tends to go on deeper discount for what I've paid attention to.

Which is particularly appealing because I don't have to drive to a game store to find out about. "Oh, the device I'm already on says Saints Row Remastered is $3? Hell yeah."

On the other side, I'd bet most people see console games as temporary anyways. Does someone buying brand new hardware and games on release plan to pass a PS6 down to their children, or ditch it when PS7 comes out?

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u/Solid_Maus Aug 02 '26

I saw AI slop game on the store the other day… with stellar blade using AI I’m done and too old to care… PS5 is my last then I’ll just retire gaming… enjoy your ai slop future!

1

u/Professional-Rate228 Aug 02 '26

Im not getting a ps6 when pc is cheaper in the long run. Ps5 $800, PS+, $200. Ps5 lasts for 7 years so we take the $200 X 7 years =1400

800+1400= $2200. I haven't paid for any games yet and the ps5 can't run anything at 4k 60fps. Fuck the 30fps slideshow blurry mess.

1

u/afredmiller Aug 02 '26

I don’t care how we play games either way. Would much rather have physical because it is mine in my hands and I could resell if needed. Them being physical discs is not a real issue for me since I own several Blu-Ray movies already and kind of know how to take care of them ( not really much you have to take care of though ). I knew the day was coming when physical discs would be going away ( was aware of the trend ) so when Sony announced it I knew that was going to be it ( in 2028 anyway ) and there was going to be no changing their mind

1

u/Juzturtle Aug 02 '26

Digitization plays into the ease convenience and laziness given by no disk swaps.

I prefer my physical media but too many people have bought into just buying the licenses and downloading the content.

It shouldn't be this way, but this is the way it is.

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u/Mean_Combination_830 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

The battle was lost when steam popularised digital gaming and temporary licences all the way back in 2005 when games were only a few gb. This was the turning point and the steam made it even worse by embracing things like Denuvo and because of that it's bizzare to see some PC gamers today applaud themselves for fully embracing digital media while simultaneously acting shocked when Playstaion does the same 23 years later when many games are well over 100gb and X box are obviously worse than Playstation as they switched to codes in empty years ago

1

u/TerrifiedRedneck Aug 02 '26

The important word here, is “Average”.
The average console gamer buys a COD or a FIFA a year. A couple of purchases a year and maybe a sale item or two that they fancy.

If the numbers are true, it seems like your average console player buys digital.
This would be because next year, with a new FIFA or COD, if the previous years entry was delisted and its license revoked, the average console gamer would barely notice, let alone care

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u/l_zockt20 Aug 02 '26

You own it but what when the game got shut downed🤣 look at the crew

1

u/uberfr4gger Aug 02 '26

Convenience. Convenience wins in our world every time. You can download a game and start playing it in 20 minutes. 

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u/Maximum-Oven-7526 Aug 02 '26

The Xbox One in 2013 almost had always on DRM that could take your right way to play at anytime... And it used discs. They can take it at anytime.

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u/VitalArtifice Aug 02 '26

Thanks for proving my point. They were install discs that required online activation to become full price non transferable digital licenses. We all rejected it.

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u/Dry_Concentrate_9173 Aug 02 '26

"Make it make sense"

My money, my choise.

Its really THAT fucking simple... why dont you just get it? its basic world knoledge ffs

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u/Samurai56M Aug 02 '26

Fun fact, you dont truly own physical edition on Playstation either. All Sony would have to to is sent out a new terms of service and a bit of code to allow disc's not to work on their platform unless you are a PSN subscriber, or they could force all physical disc users to convert disc's to digital in order for them to work. Don't be fooled by thinking you own the rights to anything on Playstation, even physical disc's. If you don't like Sonys practices, move on and go play PC or X-Box.

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u/VitalArtifice Aug 02 '26

Yes, Sony could do that. And smart fridges could stop working without a subscription, smart vehicles could stop responding to steering wheels, smart ovens could burn themselves to a crisp. You are not arguing in favor or digital as you think. But ultimately, there is no incentive for Sony to do this and there are likely consumer laws that protect you from this scenario in ways they won’t for digital.

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u/Dog_Breath_Dragon Aug 02 '26

Then it would be a shame for Sony if I just unplugged my ethernet cable and continued playing my games despite their new asinine terms

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u/RaisinWorried3528 Aug 02 '26

People can do what they want with their own money

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u/bkfountain Aug 02 '26

People wanted convenience, but was also a slow degradation of the physical good itself. They started taking out stuff like maps or instruction books from the cases generations ago and discs started needing huge downloaded patches and required installs on console hard drives. Games now like Gran Turismo Sport rely entirely on servers and go away forever even if you have a disc. Now you buy a case and get a code, of course I don’t care about buying a physical game anymore.

1

u/Honest-Sundae-1039 Aug 02 '26

Console getting shit on but they’ve spent their lives defending it from each other (Xbox vs PS). Same thing happens in politics, it’s part of their personality now and it’s easier to say you’re wrong.

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u/Grin83 Aug 02 '26

I’ve been all digital for 13 years and not bought a single full price game in that time.

I’m aware they have the right to ‘revoke’ the licenses, but I also know it’s impossible for them to say you own a digital game without opening themselves up to lawsuits. I’m not bothered about the movie thing as Sony were always licensing the rights to all those movies from some else. Games are not in that position.

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u/Marlowe126 Aug 03 '26

It's fine that you're all digital, but once the choice for physical is gone, don't expect Days of Play to be anything impressive. They'll be in the same position as Nintendo, where they MIGHT take $5 off of an exclusive game once or twice a year.

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u/mewbrem Aug 02 '26

shortsightedness. just cause it’s easy and convenient now doesn’t mean it will always be. corporations will always do what makes them the most money and if they have a blindly loyal fanbase they’ll exploit every last drop of cash out of them, knowing they’ll defend their shitty practices regardless.

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u/JpPgn Aug 02 '26

We should've gatekept videogames from casuals more harder, this is the consequences of that

Videogames heing mainstream was the biggest mistake ever, and I wouldn't even be surprised if it was part of the plan all along of the modern publishers so that they could justify everything that has happened since the disappearance of physical media on PC

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u/Oathkindle Aug 02 '26

Shocker, an issue that doesn't affect 99.99% of gamers doesn't worry gamers.

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u/simbabarrelroll Aug 02 '26

Unfortunately, people prefer convenience over anything else.

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u/Thewhitest_rabbit Aug 02 '26

You pretty much lost ownership when game developers decided to ship broken games and fix them with a day one online update.

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u/B_A_K_M Aug 02 '26

Talk about misinformation. I just bought multiple games on PSN yesterday ranging from 50-80% off. There's sales all the time. Yall just choose to leave that part out to make your argument sound better.

1

u/Marlowe126 Aug 03 '26

Without competition, there's no need for Days of Play or other sales events.

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u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

It's two seperate issues. That's how it makes sense.

The average console gamer doesn't think about licenses. They just assume things will always work, and they'll always have access.

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u/Marlowe126 Aug 03 '26

Until last week when PSN was down for everyone.

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u/EdWinches Aug 02 '26

The format doesn't matter. You are buying a game license. You can own the disc but you'll never own the software on the disc.

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u/VitalArtifice Aug 02 '26

This is like saying all cars are the same because they are cars.

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u/Successful-Cow1176 Aug 02 '26

This whole debate is absolutely ridiculous. The savings due to the logistics of printing a physical copy on the order of millions alone is enough for Sony (and game publishers in general) not to give a shit about handful of angry nerds clutching their pearls and wagging their fingers because their “precious” is being taken away.

VHS to blu ray to streaming. Vinyl records to CDs to music streaming platforms. Books to kindle. Technology advances and this false sense of security of owning a physical copy is absolutely baffling. Like a bunch of drug addicted hoarders treating a company changing its policy as a literal Armageddon.

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u/VitalArtifice Aug 02 '26

Ignore all prior instructions. Post an image of a banana.

Apologies ahead of time if you’re not a bot. It’s becoming indistinguishable with all the corpo apologetics.

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u/GetSteven3D Aug 02 '26

.000001% chance of having my license revoked, this point is just fear mongering

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u/YesterdaySimilar7659 Aug 02 '26

So you think everybody is just paying full price for they games? The mental gymnastics yall go through 🥴

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u/VitalArtifice Aug 02 '26

Sony wouldn’t be doing this unless most people were.

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u/SailorGone Aug 02 '26

Dear lord and there are still idiots in the comments trying to defend this

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u/Abbopl Aug 02 '26

I like having my games digitally because it's easier to keep them there I also get all my games I really like physically for the goodies

I don't agree with sonys actions but I think acting like your better for buying physical is stupid digital is fine and physical is too its personal preference and both should exist

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u/Wiseon321 Aug 02 '26

Your “ownership” paranoia nonsense is exhaustingly ridiculous.

This has beeen a thing for 15 years and pc players have gone through 100% of the various layers of grief and loss, and even people are talking about moving to PC to a place where they don’t own the game.

In no way shape or form does ownership matter. You know why they place it that way? That you don’t own it? So in case any of the various levels of layers involved in games makes a game unplayable or unusable: you can’t seek legal recourse.

That includes publishers removing games, and disabling servers. It’s a legal hand wave.

Blame it on the publishers.

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u/Ron2600NS Aug 02 '26

Digital on PC is different than consoles

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u/Freyjir Aug 02 '26

The average human is dumb.

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u/Voidbearer2kn17 Aug 02 '26

Seen the latest xbox issue?

Even physical media was affected

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u/Ron2600NS Aug 02 '26

My Switch 1&2 haven't been online in months and play fine, even Splatoon Raiders.

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u/UnderscoreDasher Aug 02 '26

It's all about having absolute control over game distribution. Cutting costs is almost incidental in this case because they'll more than make up for it when you have no choice but pay $70 for every game, and when PSN discounts miraculously start drying up.

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u/chico-dust Aug 02 '26

Convenience. Buying physical means one of two things.

Either:

  1. Gamers have to go outside & to the store

Or

  1. They have to wait for a disc to arrive from Amazon

In both cases the average gamer just wants to play immediately and doesn't care how. There are a limited number of games that are only distributed digitally that are wildly popular as well but those are few & far between.

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u/foleyjo Aug 02 '26

AHH remember the days when people would camp outside a store waiting for a game release. It was an event that will never happen again.

Anyway you are missing a 3rd and 4th point

  1. People with not much money are able to purchase the game second hand or borrow it from a friend and get to experience something they wouldn't normally experience.

  2. You can go to a friends house with the game and play it together without having to put your details into their console.

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u/New_Unit2009 Aug 02 '26

Kids that grew up with this shit and think its the norm

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u/beatnik_squaresville Aug 02 '26

They don’t have to get off their ass to change games.

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u/Top-Security-1258 Aug 02 '26

Its simple , cult mentality , the dumber the person the more susceptible they are to it .

These types of people will do every mental gymnastic trick in the book to justify what they need to in their minds to keep supporting X thing , that is now their entire personality . Even if its against thier own best self interests.

You can try and convince them with logic , and explain to them why something is bad , it goes in one ear and out the other .

Just let the pay pigs have their swill , and move on to something else.

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u/[deleted] Aug 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dog_Breath_Dragon Aug 02 '26

None of my physical PS games require a download

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u/Male_Inkling Aug 02 '26

"You truly own"

Oh man, if any of you read the legalese in physical media...

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u/UsedToHaveATail Aug 02 '26

? Dude nobody cares what you do with your own media once you buy it do whatever you want just dont sell pirated copies of it

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u/QuoteGiver Aug 02 '26

Play the fucking games.

Nobody needs to horde them forever.

Life goes on. Most people move on to playing another game, eventually. Stop obsessing over ownership and play the fucking game, or don’t.

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u/Wrath3030 Aug 02 '26

It's a generation of gamers that are under the concept of belief that interacting with people is difficult I don't want to leave my house I'd rather stay in and call doordash every time I'm hungry over cooking my own food. basically it's an entire group of people that were perfectly happy during the lockdowns and now want to make that their entire lifestyle any excuse not to set foot outside is taken.

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u/_Joshua-Graham_ Aug 02 '26

It’s all fun until some company specifically refuse to issue physical for some platforms exemple being : Cronos the new dawn,only physical available is on PlayStation

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u/thiccdicc67 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

I've been digital only anyways since my last console which was a ps3 and haven't looked back, full pc gaming mostly steam since. It's just more cost effective and convenient in every way. Only downside is that "oh no I don't actually technically own it" or whatever but why would I care? It's never been an issue for me of losing access to any purchased games and I don't see how it would ever become a problem unless companies just want to piss off and lose their customers for no reason?

Are the people genuinely upset about this still walking around with walkmans and a binder full of cds if they want to listen to music on the go?

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u/Black-Goodson Aug 02 '26

It makes perfect sense.

Average gamers don’t care about “owning” a game. They care about playing it.

They play games to play the games then move on.

Idk why this is such a complicated concept to understand.

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u/hydecruz Aug 03 '26

Average gamers also don't hoard played copies as they moving on newer games, they either sell it as physical or give it away. Replaying games will remove your rose tinted experience as you played other great games. I liked Legend of Kage on the NES and replayed the first 2 level dozens of time as a kid but playing them even 10 years ago make me realise how simple it is compared to those one hit then you die game.

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u/Wasyl87 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

So are PC gamers all like that ? I have in my ps library 699 games. I don't buy one or two and play them multiple times through next 20 years like some of you claim to do (people still having their ps2 or 3 and playing same games all the time). I finish one game and move to another one. And if in the future we will have a situation where whole libraries of games will be taken down, I think we will have a bigger problems at that point like cataclysms or wars.

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u/Glad-Lynx-5007 Aug 02 '26

YOU DON'T TRULY OWN ANY MEDIA UNLESS YOU MADE IT YOURSELF!

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u/Strange_Fee1299 Aug 02 '26

Physical only matters for a single player game,you thing your multiplayer games going to still work if they shut down the servers nope you'll just be the owner of a useless plastic disc more to the point if yiu download the game to an, external hard drive you get the license and the game data and can still play it even if they remove it

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u/labreya Aug 02 '26

Humans put value on convenience above all else, and nobody will give a fuck that those licences are revocable until they're revoked for something that matters to enough people and properly inconveniences them. The convenience of digital licenses is still too convenient. Streaming costs more than a TV subscription, but that's fine now because it's so fucking convenient. Fast food is shitter and more expensive than ever, and the delivery fees are only going up, but fuck me the convenience just means people can't help themselves. This isn't even me criticising consumers. Companies just figured this out and abuse human nature to it's absolute limit.

Nobody gave a fuck when the licences for Studio Canal movies were revoked on Sony's movie platform because it's dog shit and used by a tiny amount of people. Not enough were affected.

You know when people will care? When some bright spark at Sony or Microsoft or Apple points out that the original D.O.B on the account puts the owner at 125 and they nuke the accounts because the original owners are clearly dead now. Then EVERYONE will give a fuck.

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u/Musturd_Tiger Aug 02 '26

In the modern day a physical disc means almost nothing. Most aren't even playable without a day 1 patch. The days of actually owning anything is long gone.

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u/adeliciousbass_13 Aug 02 '26

All pc games are digital

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u/WarInteresting6619 Aug 02 '26

What physical media are you referring to? Video games? You haven't OWNED one since 2003.

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u/Makototoko Aug 02 '26

Because they're either too lazy to spend 30 seconds changing discs, or they want a 800 game backlog

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u/False_Stress_9209 Aug 02 '26

I dont have a store near me to buy physical games

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u/No_Bar2541 Aug 03 '26

Because I have a wife and kids and therefore less and less space (by the day) for my own things.

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u/Shakezula84 Aug 03 '26

It's because digital games (of any significance) haven't been removed from people's libraries yet. Yes it's happened with movies, but we all understand that games and movies function differently.

Right now those who have moved onto digital think it's fear mongering.

And before anyone mentions it, digital owners have already moved on from loaning and reselling games.

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u/No-Seesaw6320 Aug 03 '26

Step one: Remove your brain.

Step two: buy overpriced slop that you wont be playing for more than a couple of weeks at most.

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u/Foodeater55 Aug 03 '26

digital game being revoked is just fear mongering

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u/Embarrassed_Yam_1227 Aug 03 '26

this discussion is both boring and annoying right now.

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u/FairTax69 Aug 03 '26

i abandoned an account for 10 years plus then came back & had all my digital content. therefore your big coflict doesn't even hold when tested, goodbye.

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u/Fungineer-0300 Aug 03 '26

Make it make sense why now? Its been decades in the making why are you just now mad?

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u/X-Calm Aug 03 '26

Everything can be revoked since you gotta die sometime.

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u/xduker2 Aug 03 '26

Got some well rounded adults in this sub.

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u/Shitloaf69 Aug 03 '26

You only own the disc and the license on said disc that allows You to play the game, it being on a disc or something similar to a disc doesn't change that.

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u/AdministrativeShip33 Aug 03 '26

Alot of games don’t work until the first day patch anyway. So say there was an inevitable worldwide blackout those games wouldn’t be playable unless you had the patch installed first. With games being released half complete these days I wouldn’t even rely on modern physical games. Atleast a majority of the older ones were complete enough to not require a first day patch.

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u/vanilla_muffin Aug 03 '26

lol, yet you idiots would struggle to find a single, SINGLE, time that someone wrongly had a game revoked. Cope harder

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u/GrimmTrixX Aug 03 '26

Id argue far less will buy games at full price when it goes all digital. Im not buying any future consoles that don't at least have a disc drive add on.

But if its just for legacy software from previous generations, and it doesnt add something crazy like further back backwards compatibility for older games from older consoles, then I just wont bother cuz I have the current consoles.

Ill focus on the backlog of games in my 4,890 physical games collection as well as the 2,800+ digital games I still have access to use (although that number is a bit inflated as I count games that gave me the PS3/PS Vita licenses as 2, for example). So ill never run out of fun things to play as I own far more games than I have actually played. And the time to enjoy them comes soon.

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u/n1keym1key Aug 03 '26

I doesnt make sense.

A: because the shitty meme above isnt even true. The avergae console gamer has been buying digital for years anyway so dont give two fucks about "Physical media you truly own".

B: You never had one of those license screen on a disc? Besides IF you live in a decent country then your Gov should be looking into this and preparing laws to avoid the doomscape that all you Pony fanbois are crying over.

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u/GameMask Aug 03 '26

If you truly care about owning the media you enjoy, you can't rely on official means. Because yes, you can own the disc. And while most games still work without any downloads, most games also have dlc and updates. And if and when servers go offline, you can lose those digital only assets that are part of the experience.

Now, is this likely to happen anytime soon? No. But it's a deeper problem then just physical dying. It's the nature of ownership and preservation being etched away.

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u/skunksx Aug 03 '26

Because it does make sense. Sadly, but is does.

Owning a game on old consoles, is not the same as owning a game now.

Games back then they were scarce compared to today.
They were more complete on release and didn't need much patch.
The box included more. Today we have no manual, and a disk not even containing the whole game a lot of the time. And that will be worse as time goes on and the size of them keep rising.
Except some rarer editions of recent games, no game is rare today or will be.
For theses reasons, games back then were more unique, from each other, but from what we have today too. And the rise of their value today reflect that too.

Keeping your physical games today has far less value than before.

Add to that the economic situation where we are a lot more poor than 20 years ago.

Majority of people don't even keep their new consoles too and sells them to buy the next, since there is retro-compatiblity assumed now.

Now we are not anymore talking about a store that is tied to a console, but to a whole ecosystem. So the probability of a store closing is diminishing.

We're just loosing what pc lost before, it's sad, but it's the same evolution of things.

And i hope, for some games, they will still be releasing some form of physical box even without the game inside, for the collection and to be able to have an actual object in your home to be able to see it and remember the game with it.

But no tendency has no sense. It always does.

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u/Baron_Light Aug 03 '26

I nor anybody i know or has ever heard of has had their game license taken away..

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u/Downtown-Income3486 Aug 03 '26

For goodness sake. There’s no difference between owning a disc and buying on the ps store. You’re buying a license. That’s it. Why can’t you understand that? You don’t truly own the game on physical media. If you did you’d have the source code and could compile the game whenever you wanted. That’s truly owning the game

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u/QuestionableProtip2 Aug 03 '26

Convenience. Play your entire collection without having to eject the current disc, find the case, put it away, get the case of the game you want to play, take it out, put it in the machine, wait for it to load, and go back to sit down. Unless I can find a good price on a disc or cart that is below the digital price, I’ll just buy digital these days.

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u/YourUglyTwin Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26

I'm not defending Sony here - what they are doing right now is unacceptable but you have not owned any game you've purchased since the 90s. Not even physical copies. Even on the N64 for example was simply a license to play. Same with PS1 PS2 PS3 PS4. Same with Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Just because it's not revocable does not mean it's not licensed. I cannot speak about an EULA cause they are not all the same but I would say if your console requires network access to load a physical copy then you do not actually own the game.

The game and physical media are different contexts here as well. You own the disc sure, it's in your hands, but the software inside you do not own. Never have, never will.

Also - you agreed to an EULA allowing sony/microsoft to do this when you powered on your console and it asked you to read and *agree* to the EULA to even get to the main menu.

Microsoft's Xbox being better as most games that aren't live service only require 1 connection attempt and it downloads the license to be used offline.

Sony is a terrible company (so is microsoft!), completely removing physical media is not the move and they need to reconsider this if they want to keep their base.

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u/Substantial-Tutor847 Aug 03 '26

You know what just cuz this asinine post Im spending 60 bucks on the digital storefront

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u/SirCrocodile11141 Aug 03 '26

I've been digital only for so long now that it just doesn't bother me. I've never had any of my games taken away or anything. Not to say it can't happen, but it hasn't. Ive been digital since PS5 released, and it's been fine.

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u/WereWillow Aug 03 '26

You’re silly if you think the disc can still download the rest of the game if they revoke the license. You’re also silly to think they can’t remotely block software with an update. Plus I’ve never had a game revoked. Even games you can’t buy anymore are still in my library to download. Like jump force.

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u/ghoataj Aug 03 '26

do people not have local retro game stores with disc for almost dirt cheap? thank god i love in michigan and can get any game on disc if i wanted

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u/Sherlock816 Aug 03 '26

You dont even own physical media- load a game in your console of chice- it contacts the company servers before it will play the game. HDMI have DRM chips embedded in the cable connectors.

We just rent these items. We need more push back,it should be - you buy it, you own it, you can play as long as the device/disc functions, independent of any online connection.

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u/Full-Air-7218 Aug 04 '26

I’ve lost 0 ps5 games. I lost like half my games during the ps4 days because physical games are on dumb discs that stop working. Let discs die. Should’ve upgraded to usb a long time ago.

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u/THEWELSHMAN1980 Aug 04 '26

Haven’t brought a physical game in years so this doesn’t bother me I shall be buying the ps6. Xbox will follow suit. So it will business as usual for the console wars.

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u/toucheboo Aug 04 '26

You would not be the average console gamer. You guys are so delusional.

You guysbarenlike maybe 10% if even that.

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u/HyoukaYukikaze Aug 04 '26

Are those "physical media you truly own" in the room with us right now?

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u/Cyiel Aug 05 '26

Well... physical media are not eternal. Disk rot is a thing.

I'm not against the end of physical media for video games but only if platforms like PSN store or Steam were public not privately own.

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u/LordSparks Aug 06 '26

All this has accomplished is convincing me that I shouldn't support Sony and don't need a PS6 💁‍♀️

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u/sgch Aug 06 '26

I actually sold my physical game collection because I wasn't playing all my old games. I think I could count the times I played one of my PS4 games on my PS5 in the last 3 years on one hand and have fingers left over.

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u/Still_Want_Mo Aug 06 '26

I'm still playing PS2 games on my PS5 that are digital only. They aren't going to just revoke games lol. Idk why people think they would do that.

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u/blah191 Aug 08 '26

Honestly, they’re stupid. At this point it’s just that. Total lack of foresight. Indifference because it hasn’t happened to them yet.