PlayStation founder says people clinging to physical games have a mentality issue — is he right?
Ken Kutaragi said in an interview this week that discs became a metaphor for owning games and that the pushback against digital-only is a mentality issue. I have a shelf of 60+ PS4 and PS5 discs and I keep buying physical partly out of habit. Are there real technical or consumer-protection reasons to keep buying discs in 2026 — resale value, no delisting risk, patch independence — or is it just nostalgia talking? Curious what the data says about resale prices holding up.
1 answer
- Discs still win on two things: resale and delisting insurance
Forget nostalgia. Two facts: one, a physical disc is a license you can resell — most PS5 discs keep 40-60% of launch price for the first year, digital is $0 forever. Two, games get delisted all the time; a disc works as long as the console boots. Downloads can vanish when stores close. Digital wins on convenience and sale prices. If you buy 10+ games a year, discs save real money. If you buy three, it barely matters. Do the math on your own library.