In a bombshell of an announcement this morning, Sony has confirmed that it will no longer be producing physical game discs for titles released on PlayStation consoles starting in January 2028. While this means newer PS5 games still have at least a year of discs to consider, it outright confirms that the PS6 is likely to be an all-digital system. It’s also something of a death knell for true ownership of video games.
A post on the PlayStation blog explains the decision. Written by Sid Shuman, senior director at SIEC, it reads, “As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting 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.”
Important updates:
News on physical discs for new games – https://t.co/BzZODXdWGY
News on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita – https://t.co/ev3mN6wj14 pic.twitter.com/PWXTZGHAh6
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 1, 2026
Rubbing salt in the wound, Sony then confirmed it will be closing down the PS3 and PS Vita digital stores over the course of the next year, with Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua shutting down in August 2026, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries in late 2026, and the rest of the world in July 2027. While that would mean the PS3’s digital storefront lived on for 21 years, it also confirms that Sony will eventually stop supporting its digital services when the time comes.
Combining these two announcements together, it’s not hard to draw the conclusion that the PS6’s entire library will vanish once Sony feels it serves no purpose anymore. You can maybe point to the PS3 store being so old that credit card processing can’t keep up, but if a business that exists to make money can’t figure out a way to make money, I’m not sure if it should still be in business. Even with the announcement of no more physical games, that is Sony telling a subset of its customers that it doesn’t want their cash.
It’s hilarious to look back 13 years ago to when Sony announced the PS4 and resoundly dunked on Microsoft for shifting to all-digital games for the Xbox One. The blowback to Microsoft’s decision was so fierce, the company had to scramble to change its console’s decision. Now, Sony has opened the door for Microsoft to possibly repeat this very joke, but only if it can stop killing studios long enough to remember it once made games.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
