Sony will stop selling physical video games for Playstation starting in 2028
August, 31; 2026. By Arscodex
As reported by numerous news outlets worldwide, Sony recently announced that it will cease manufacturing physical PlayStation games starting in 2028. Instead, they will be sold through its official online store and physical retailers via redeemable codes.
This is a rather sensible move, given that the current state of technology allows for the digital distribution of video games with advanced copy protection systems that guarantee—even more so—that these technologies will not be used fraudulently or for piracy. Movies have long since transitioned to this model, with DVD and Blu-ray sales now minimal.
Furthermore, this also marks the beginning of a new way of marketing video games—or rather, this was already happening before Sony decided to take this step—a kind of GaaS, or Gaming as a Service model, an evolution of the traditional SaaS, or Software as a Service, applied specifically to video games.
In other words, you pay a subscription and get a computer service like a streaming platform or pay-per-use cloud service, etc. This will lead to the loss of the secondary market for physical video games, as well as the sentimental value of these objects—the now-old video games sold on physical discs. This may also encourage the sale of figurines and other items that will carry that aforementioned "sentimental value" and that fans will enjoy owning.
Ultimately, it's a logical move since digital distribution is currently much more efficient and secure than traditional physical distribution for video games, and the system has been successfully implemented in other entertainment disciplines such as movies and music through current streaming services.
This is a rather sensible move, given that the current state of technology allows for the digital distribution of video games with advanced copy protection systems that guarantee—even more so—that these technologies will not be used fraudulently or for piracy. Movies have long since transitioned to this model, with DVD and Blu-ray sales now minimal.
Furthermore, this also marks the beginning of a new way of marketing video games—or rather, this was already happening before Sony decided to take this step—a kind of GaaS, or Gaming as a Service model, an evolution of the traditional SaaS, or Software as a Service, applied specifically to video games.
In other words, you pay a subscription and get a computer service like a streaming platform or pay-per-use cloud service, etc. This will lead to the loss of the secondary market for physical video games, as well as the sentimental value of these objects—the now-old video games sold on physical discs. This may also encourage the sale of figurines and other items that will carry that aforementioned "sentimental value" and that fans will enjoy owning.
Ultimately, it's a logical move since digital distribution is currently much more efficient and secure than traditional physical distribution for video games, and the system has been successfully implemented in other entertainment disciplines such as movies and music through current streaming services.