Staff Reporter | Song Jianan
On August 11, NUPIAO learned that Sony’s PlayStation China official website has added an important notice to the PS5 purchase page, stating that starting January 2028, newly released PlayStation games will be sold exclusively in digital format. Game discs released before January 2028 will remain fully playable.
To be clear, this does not mean the PS5 disc edition console will be locked out of optical drives. Physical discs already in players’ collections will still read and run normally on disc-equipped consoles. Games that have already launched before January 2028, or those confirmed to receive disc versions, will also be unaffected.
This plan was first announced via the official PlayStation Blog on July 1 this year, and was later added to the “Important Notices” section of the PlayStation support page. Now, Sony has placed the reminder in a more prominent spot for players to see.
Explaining the reasoning, Sony stated, “In response to changing consumer preferences, newly released games will be sold only in digital form.”
The company emphasized, “For Sony Interactive Entertainment, this is the natural evolution in line with consumer trends. At present, players’ overall preference for digital media has clearly surpassed physical discs. Through this transition, we will be better positioned to align with how the majority of players today choose to access and enjoy games.”
Sony also pledged to continue prioritizing resources toward innovation in how players access games, while offering more choices along the way.
NUPIAO noticed that Sony’s Tmall official flagship store is still selling a small number of physical disc games, including titles like Lost Soul Aside and Horizon Forbidden West. A customer service representative from the store told NUPIAO that no notice has been received regarding the discontinuation of physical disc game sales.
But as soon as the news broke, it sparked widespread discussion across the global gaming community, with some players even calling on Sony to reverse the decision and launching an online petition in protest.
A large number of collectors and second-hand game enthusiasts voiced strong dissatisfaction. In their view, once new titles no longer ship on discs, players lose the ability to resell games for some return, and game ownership essentially becomes account-based licensing. Account bans or server shutdowns could permanently lock players out of games they thought they owned. A related thread on Reddit’s PlayStation board racked up millions of views in a short time, with countless users voicing concerns about game ownership.
Xiao Yang, a veteran console gamer, told NUPIAO that he remains neutral on the matter and feels the impact is minimal. “The only reason I bought physical discs was for collecting — it just takes away one little joy.” He also noted that Japanese players tend to have a stronger sentimental attachment to games, with many preferring to buy physical editions for their collections when new titles launch. Not being able to do so in the future would definitely feel like a loss.
Some players support the decision, arguing that digitalization is an unstoppable industry trend. Digital versions eliminate the hassle of swapping discs, aren’t affected by shipping delays, stock shortages, or second-hand price inflation, and offer the convenience of download-and-play. Many younger players already rarely buy physical discs, caring more about storage space and download speeds than having a disc in hand.
Physical discs were once the backbone of the PlayStation ecosystem, accompanying Sony through decades of console generations. From CD-ROMs in the PS era, DVDs on PS2, to Blu-ray discs on PS3, PS4, and PS5, physical media powered the golden age of console gaming. Discs carried not just game data, but the packaging, physical merch, and collector’s editions that together built a generation of gaming memories.
Kim Bayley, CEO of the UK Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), commented that industry data shows 25% of young people under 25 still use discs to play games, and discs should be preserved as an option alongside digital versions.
In her view, PlayStation’s announcement that major titles will no longer offer disc versions “reflects a company prioritizing its own convenience over consumer choice.”
Many analysts believe Sony is unlikely to reverse this decision. Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consulting firm Kantan Games, noted that even if 500,000 people canceled their PlayStation Plus subscriptions in protest, it would be a drop in the ocean for Sony.
Sony’s fiscal Q1 2026 earnings report shows group sales revenue reached 2,837.8 billion yen, up 8% year-over-year; operating profit hit 476.5 billion yen, up 40%; and net profit attributable to shareholders was 342.2 billion yen, up 32%. Among these, the Game & Network Services (G&NS) segment generated sales of 937.1 billion yen, roughly flat compared to the same period last year, while operating profit grew 37% year-over-year to 202 billion yen.
For the gaming business growth, Sony attributed it primarily to favorable exchange rate movements and tariff-related positive impacts, which offset the negative effects of declining non-first-party game software sales, lower console hardware sales, and increased expenses from next-generation platform investment and restructuring costs.
Breaking it down, combined software sales for PS4 and PS5 during the quarter reached 66.1 million units, with digital versions accounting for 82% and physical discs just 18%. Digital downloads have clearly become the dominant driver of software revenue. PlayStation’s monthly active users hit 125 million that quarter, but first-party game sales were only 6 million units, showing a year-over-year decline.
For those 125 million players, the gradual exit of physical discs marks the fading of an era. Both they and Sony will need to adapt to the new digital world.
(Xiao Yang is a pseudonym used in this article)
