Sony is phasing out PlayStation discs from 2028 and a former PlayStation boss just called it a mistake — still buying physical?
Facts first, because the takes are running ahead of them. Sony is phasing out physical PlayStation releases from early 2028. Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden criticized the decision publicly this week, estimating roughly 80 percent of players already prefer digital, but arguing the other 20 percent — collectors, resellers, people who want a shelf copy that no server can revoke — still matter. He also raised the ownership point directly: a digital purchase you cannot resell or lend is a license, not a copy. My library is mixed, maybe half disc and half digital. For people in the same spot: do you keep buying discs while you still can, stockpile favorites, or accept the license model and go all-digital now while sales are good?
2 answers
- All-digital already, mostly fine — with one nagging exception
Okay casual take here lol. I went all-digital like two years ago just because swapping discs got annoying and the sales are honestly great, I have bought big games for 20 bucks that were 70 on disc. So the convenience side is real and I get why most people switched. But. One of my favorite racing games got delisted and the only reason I can still play my copy is... actually no, mine was digital too and it still works, it is new buyers who are locked out. That is the part that bugs me. With a disc, a game existing does not depend on a store staying up or a license deal surviving. I am not going back to discs for everything, but for the handful of games I truly love I kind of want a copy that is mine-mine. Mixed library is probably the sane answer.
- Keep buying discs over $40 — the resale math is not close
Adding the numbers to the convenience case, because they point the other way for full-price games. A $70 disc bought at launch and resold in month two typically returns $35 to $45. Your real cost is $25 to $35. A $70 digital copy costs $70 forever, and even waiting for a 30 percent digital sale only gets you to $49 — still more than the disc route, with no copy to lend. The math flips for games under $25 on sale, where digital wins on price and the resale value was near zero anyway. My rule: over $40 and likely to finish it, buy the disc while discs exist. Under $25 on sale, digital. The 2028 deadline does not change the rule, it just puts an expiry date on being able to use it.