PlayStation Digital Games Controversy Mocked By Former Boss

Former PlayStation Boss Pokes Fun At The All-Digital Future Published Sep 18, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT Sign in to your TheGamer account When PlayStation revealed that it would be abandoning physical game releases as of 2028, the backlash was immediate and intense. It didn't take long for fans to remind PlayStation of the time it made fun of Xbox for trying to pull something similarly scummy, making the Xbox One always-online to curb the use of second-hand games. If Xbox had gone through with those plans, the process of sharing a game with a friend would have become incredibly convoluted. So, to poke fun at this, PlayStation released its own "demonstration" on how to share games with friends. Here, the then-PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida simply passed a physical game to PlayStation exec Adam Boyes. That was it - that was the demonstration. So, with PlayStation dropping physical games, and therefore making this impossible in its next console generation, it's only natural that the video resurfaced. The pair in the video are clearly aware of this, and have recreated it for the modern day at Tokyo Game Show - without a physical game to share. Shuhei Yoshida And Adam Boyes Recreate Their Famous Jab At The Xbox One Don't expect this to be a serious jab against PlayStation; it's almost definitely just the pair having some fun. Yoshida has shared other images from the event, showing him getting along with PlayStation folks just fine. He has also somewhat defended the move, arguing that physical copies are redundant when so much of a game has to be downloaded online anyway, even if you have a disc. With that said, there is another former PlayStation boss who is publicly against the decision. Former Sony president Shawn Layden has said he doesn't "necessarily agree" with the move, but conceded that it wasn't his concern anymore, and physical games may have been costing PlayStation too much to justify. The community, on the other hand, continues to fight against this decision. There was even an attempt to carry out a boycott against PlayStation to try and convince it to change its mind, but apparently, this isn't proving particularly effective. In the meantime, anything PlayStation does is met with a flood of fans fighting back against the all-digital future. Brand Sony Original Release Date November 12, 2020 Original MSRP (USD) $499, €499, £449, ¥49,980 (Base) // $399, €399, £359, ¥39,980 (Digital), Operating System Orbis OS Processor Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 Resolution 720p - 8K