PlayStation Financials Confirm PS5 Blackout Didn't Work

The Big No-Disc, No-Buy PlayStation Blackout Didn't Impact Sony At All Published Nov 5, 2026, 8:45 AM EST George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account PlayStation’s recently released financial results for the second quarter of the year confirm that the blackout to protest Sony’s physical plans didn’t make much impact. As you no doubt know considering it’s easily the biggest and most controversial news of the year, PlayStation recently announced that it was going to cease disc production at the start of 2028. It’s a decision that has been unanimously hated by all gamers, who have made their thoughts well known under every post the company has made in the past few months. Although Sony has made it clear that it isn’t going to be walking back that decision despite the backlash, one of the bigger movements to protest it was Does It Play’s call for a complete blackout in early September that was later changed to “until Sony realize their mistake”. It already seemed like that was unsuccessful, but we now know for sure. Sony Financials Confirm PlayStation Blackout Hasn’t Worked It’s Only Going To Get Tougher From Here On Out Via Adobe Stock. Earlier today, Sony released its financial report for Q3, which not only gave a very good hint that the PS6 is indeed coming in 2028, but also shared updated sales figures for games and numbers for the overall PlayStation player base. As pointed out by Push Square, those numbers confirm once and for all that the no-disc, no-buy response didn’t work. Sony’s Q2 results report that PlayStation had 127 million monthly active users during the time the blackout was planned, which is eight million more than it had at the same time in 2025, and two million more than the first quarter of the year. Total playtime for the quarter also increased by four percent year-on-year, which Sony says is “steadily improving”. As for September specifically, there was a seven percent increase in monthly active users compared to last year, while digital sales of “full game software” increased by six percent. Considering the blackout is intended to protest the lack of physical releases, that really puts the nail in the movement’s coffin. GTA 6 being out in a few weeks and pushed for PS5 is just the hammer on that nail’s head. That’s not to say that the blackout was completely ineffective, however, as there’s simply no telling whether those numbers would be even better without the backlash. Part of a protest is delivering a message and that’s certainly been done, even if it’s now painfully clear that a blackout isn’t going to change Sony’s mind at all. 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