Sony has been receiving a lot of criticism since it announced that it will stop making physical PlayStation game discs from January 2028. Fans have flooded social media with complaints, some have even canceled their PS Plus subscriptions. Even with all this backlash, Sony does not seem ready to change its decision.
According to independent industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, the company plans to move forward with its all-digital strategy and simply “wait for this storm to pass.” Speaking to IGN, Toto said Sony expected the huge online backlash before making the announcement and was ready for this kind of reaction. “They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass,” Toto said.
Toto believes player boycotts will have little effect on Sony’s plans. Even if around 500,000 users canceled their PS Plus subscriptions, it would only be a small part of Sony’s business. The analyst believes Sony will not reverse this decision because its long-term move toward a fully digital business is worth more to the company than dealing with short-term criticism.
One of the biggest reasons is money. By ending physical game production, Sony will save on manufacturing and shipping costs while no longer sharing part of each sale with retail stores. It will also make more money through the PlayStation Store from third-party game sales. Sony’s own games currently bring in about 65% profit from physical copies, but digital sales increase that to 100%. For third-party titles, Sony earns around 15% from physical copies and about 30% from digital sales. Nevertheless, waiting for the “storm to pass” does not mean the issue will simply go away. The decision could continue to damage Sony’s relationship with many PlayStation fans.
In other PlayStation news, Sony has not ruled out another PS Plus price increase, saying pricing remains one of the ways it plans to improve profits.
