by 
In the wake of Sony's almost casual three-paragraph announcement that it was going to stop printing physical discs from January 2028, there has been a strong response from all corners of the gaming world. More than 65,000 Digital Foundry viewers have voted against the decision in a YouTube poll, while a Change.org petition urging Sony to reconsider has attracted over 120,000 signatures.
The petition was started by Jade Pearce, CEO of an independent Canadian games retailer, and offers a good summary of the arguments against the change. That includes impossibility of used game sales or game lending, lock-in to a single marketplace, and the knock-on effects on the many industries that rely on physical game discs. I'd also mention the difficulties for users on slow or capped internet connections as another good reason to oppose Sony's plans. The petition concludes with:
We are not against digital. We are against digital being the only option. A large and passionate community still wants a real, physical game they own outright, and Sony is about to take that choice away.
Digital Foundry's John Linneman previously went on-record to speak against the decision, pointing to how digital game ownership is metamorphosing into game rental, ie temporary arrangements that can be rescinded at any time. After all, Sony announced that the PS3 and PS Vita storefronts were being shuttered on the same day, while a week earlier purchases of more than 500 digital movies were removed by Sony from owners' libraries without compensation and the biggest game of the generation, Grand Theft Auto 6, was announced with a "code-in-a-box" physical edition. Here's John:
"This is news that I always knew might come but I never expected it so soon. It's deeply disappointing and will alter my own purchasing habits of gaming software going forward. I would urge them to reconsider and I hope that, somehow, the backlash will be strong enough to push them in that direction, but it feels hopeless. The average customer seems content with digital distribution so it's a losing battle but, for me, if I'm going to spend money on a digital platform, it should be a more open platform like the PC. I need time to process this shift because it is highly disappointing."
"That this news arrives at the same time they've finally decided to shutter the PS Vita and PS3 stores should say it all. You are merely renting games when spending money through these digital storefronts and the owners of closed platforms can revoke your ability to enjoy this content at any point. We saw this again recently with Sony's removal of hundreds of purchased movies as well."
While Sony no doubt expected backlash against their plans, it seems likely to be a business decision - where any lost revenue from players that switch to rival consoles or PC is made up for by greater income from digital games, which can't be resold or purchased at a discount from rival platforms as physical games can. This could be a vital component for Sony's console strategy going forward, given the ongoing AI-driven price hikes to flash memory components like SSDs and RAM would make the PlayStation 6 much more expensive than prior generations.
While Sony is currently in the headlines, a clear alternative for dissatisfied PlayStation users isn't readily apparent. Nintendo is the major console manufacturer that has continued to embrace physical media - albeit with a new option for "game-key cards" for the Switch 2 generation that aren't as useful for collectors - but a slightly narrower band of games are available for the Nintendo platform. Meanwhile, Microsoft is likely to be considering a digital-only Project Helix console backed with a "Disc2Digital" feature, though allowing access to multiple PC game marketplaces would provide some flexibility for users to purchase digital games at discounted prices. The Steam Machine is also an option for a console-like experience, though its price-to-performance ratio is significantly behind consoles and some distance behind similarly-sized custom PCs as well - and, of course, there's no disc drive here either.
Have you signed the petition? Do you think it has any chance of prompting a response or course correction from Sony? Let me know in the comments below.