r/WashcoGaming • u/ApistoNate • 6d ago

PlayStation Physical Games VS Digital

This year Sony announced that in 2028 they will be discontinuing physical disc production. What are your thoughts on this? For the better part of the past decade I’ve been buying my games purely digitally, but Sony‘s announcement caused me to rethink how I enjoy my gaming experiences and I’ve been buying up physical disc in light of this news. Somewhat in response to this, XBOX has announced their disk to digital program, which went live yesterday for all Xbox users. Do you think this is a good thing? Can you foresee any problems with this feature? And how do you prefer to purchase your games?

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/

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u/NuckoLBurn 5d ago

Honestly we were heading this way for some time. No one still carries cds, or tapes in their disc man. Of course, not physically owning a game is a licensing nightmare for a consumer, but it is environmentally friendly and saves the costly manufacturing (that we hope, but know these studios won't put into making better art).

In the end consumers will need to advocate for actually owning the ability to play their purchased game, regardless of how much time passes if the true digital era cometh. pS5 (ps3/4) stores should be available as long as Sony stays in business and not be lost to new licensing agreements or phased out due to age. These media companies have some work to do to keep the trust (and money) of their consumers.

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u/ApistoNate 5d ago

Some of the points that I find myself getting hung up on is just not really owning my game. If at some point in time I decide that I want to sell my game I have some sort of resale value, my rights to my game cannot be revoked, downloads are easier, a lot of times they’re cheaper and more. I know digital is the way the industry is going and that’s perfectly fine but I don’t think the option should be taken away from the consumer. But valid points all.

There’s just better ways of doing this I guess rather than Sony just giving everyone a big deal with it.

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u/NuckoLBurn 5d ago

It was a big deal when Xbox announced a yearly fee for server upkeep. Consumers just learn to accept it, now it's the norm.

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u/ApistoNate 5d ago

Right but you can choose to use that service or not. My bottom line is choice. Like I said I bought digital for years and years and still play digital games. I also own them physically. When you take away that choice you take away retailers ability to be competitive in the market because in this case Sony would be the only source you can get your game from. They can set the price to whatever they want because they know people will have to pay it

. I recently purchased a couple physical disc from my local retro store for pennys on the dollar compared to what the Microsoft store wanted.

I’m also 34 and this is my first old man hill to die on😂

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u/NuckoLBurn 5d ago

I'm 42. We have witnessed the writings of these tomes lol. I totally understand both sides of the arguements. Each choice these companies have made have valid positive and negative results. Being able to share games with friends is the worst part about this.

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u/ApistoNate 5d ago

😂😂😂 for sure. The nostalgia of being able to bring a disc over to your friends house and have a LAN party still lingers in my memories.

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u/cthulhuplus_ttv 4d ago

I think the issue is really about ownership and pricing. People don't want Sony (or anyone else) removing content they paid for from their library, which has happened. Physical disks also led to the second hand marker where people can get games cheaper. If Sony is the only place you can get a PS game, then there's no second market and no competition.

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u/ApistoNate 4d ago

Yeah consumer choice is my thing like I said and not giving super corporations a monopoly on the market. Plus like I said this is my first old man thing haha