Sony’s Plan to Kill Physical PlayStation Discs Faces Gamer Backlash

The age of the physical disc is ending on the Sony PlayStation. Despite backlash from gamers, the company intends to continue with its plans to end PlayStation disc sales as of January 2028. “Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format,” Sony said in a PlayStation blog post on July 1 . The post said the change is driven by consumer trends and a general preference for digital media. Many PlayStation gamers clearly felt otherwise, with some players calling for a worldwide boycott of Sony platforms beginning in August. The PSBlackout urges gamers to keep their systems powered off for the entire week of Aug. 23. A petition on Change.org called “Don’t Kill the Disc” has also racked up over 350,000 verified signatures so far. Sony wants to abandon fans? Let's give them a small taste of their own medicine!Together with other creators we call for a 1 week #PSBlackout in August. No logins, no play sessions, no purchases on any of Sony's platforms. pic.twitter.com/v6JvdvbHLD— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) July 26, 2026 The backlash prompted Sony to respond to gamers in a Q&A session with shareholders, but the company isn’t changing its decision. Sony CFO Lin Tao said that the brand intends to continue moving forward with its plan to end physical disc sales and that the company doesn’t believe the backlash will negatively affect sales, though Tao noted the company will proceed “cautiously” with its plans. Tao also said that the company is deciding how to address feedback from gamers unhappy with the decision. She said that Sony wants to consider the emotions of upset players, since the games are “connected to people’s fond memories.” She also said the company might take measures in the future to lessen the blow, without specifying what those measures might be, and said that Sony wanted to engage with gamers in the future digital ecosystem. A Sony representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Currently, the PlayStation 5 Slim Disc is the only model that comes with a built-in disc drive for physical games. However, you can still buy a separate disc drive for the PS5 Digital Edition and PS5 Pro console. Some players plan to boycott Sony platforms to protest the loss of physical games.SOPA Images/Getty Images Unless the August boycott significantly affects Sony’s bottom line, the company is unlikely to back down on this decision. Discs, after all, can be resold, creating a secondary market from which the company doesn’t profit. All digital sales are controlled solely by the company, no matter how old the title is. This is also likely to affect resale platforms like GameStop and eBay, where gamers can usually get used titles at significant discounts. As many commentators point out, digital titles grant a revocable license for the game, not ownership. So it’s technically possible for Sony to pull a game you’ve paid for and downloaded onto your system, though it’s rare that a company does this if there isn’t a copyright or licensing issue. This is a transition that PC gamers made ages ago, with purely digital storefronts like Steam, Epic, GOG and others now being the most common ways PC gamers play games. These days, you really need to go out of your way to include an optical drive in your PC build since it’s not a default option. I’ve also found that many of my older disc games, like Age of Empires 3 and the first Rome: Total War, aren’t compatible with Windows 11, and you can’t even install or run them properly. IGN reported that Project Helix, Xbox’s next console, will not have a disc drive and that Microsoft is exploring ways to digitize physical games. That may leave Nintendo as the sole company to continue supporting physical game media for the foreseeable future, in the form of cartridges for the Switch 2, which can also play games made for the original Switch. Ajay has worked in tech journalism for over a decade as a reporter, analyst, product reviewer, and editor. He got his start in consumer tech, breaking Android news at Newsweek before going to PCMag, where he reviewed hundreds of smartphones, battery packs, and chargers as a Mobile Analyst. He also worked at Lifewire, a Dotdash Meredith brand, as a Tech Commerce Editor, putting together tested best-of lists and assigning product reviews across categories including smart home, uninterruptible power supplies, generators, and automotive tech. Most recently, he was Section Editor, Mobile at Digital Trends, spearheading his team's coverage of breaking news, features, reviews, roundups, deals, and more across a variety of mobile products, including phones, wearables, VR headsets, batteries, and chargers. If you want Ajay's advice about anything tech, especially solar panels, UPS, batteries, EVs, and charging technology, you can reach him at ajkumar@cnet.com. See full bio The Latest from Ajay Sony’s Plan to Kill Physical PlayStation Discs Faces Gamer Backlash The FCC Just Banned Most Robot Vacuums. Here’s What That Means We Hooked 19 Power Stations Up to a Fridge. Here’s Why Bigger Isn’t Always Better