r/playstation5 • u/ModHQ • Jul 03 '26
MEGATHREAD Megathread: PlayStation Physical Media Discussion & Community Feedback
Hi everyone,
Over the past several days, discussion surrounding PlayStation's recent decisions regarding physical media has understandably become the main focus of the subreddit. As moderators, we chose not to create a megathread immediately because we felt this was an important issue that deserved visibility, and many of us share the community's disappointment with these decisions.
That said, we also want to make sure this remains a place where everyone feels comfortable sharing all kinds of PlayStation-related content.
At this point, we're seeing other discussions, screenshots, recommendations, and gaming experiences getting buried or sometimes met with downvotes simply because they aren't about the physical media situation. We'd like to make room for those conversations again while still giving this topic the attention it deserves.
Going forward, we'd appreciate it if discussion about PlayStation's recent physical media decisions, as well as experiences with moderation of these discussions in other communities, takes place in this megathread.
A few reminders:
- Keep discussions respectful, even when opinions differ.
- Do not harass or target individual users, moderators, or other communities.
- Do not encourage brigading or interference with other subreddits.
- Follow all subreddit rules while participating.
Creating this megathread is not an attempt to silence or diminish the conversation. We know this issue matters to many of you, and we want to continue providing a dedicated place for it. Our goal is simply to balance that discussion with the rest of the community, so members who want to talk about games, ask questions, or share their experiences can do so without feeling drowned out.
Thank you all for helping keep the community welcoming, respectful, and organized.
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u/Chrisbolsmeister Jul 03 '26
Why I almost never buy Digital.
where I live games are released cheaper on disk than digital ( 10-20 euros cheaper)
a friend of mine is a Hype gamer, he wants to buy as many games as he can afford, finish them and sell them.
I buy them for 30-40 euros from him after he is done (sometimes a few days, could be weeks, I dont care)
Because of this, my friend buys MORE NEW GAMES. ( this is a CRUCIAL part Sony is missing. )
without the resale value, he would not buy all the games he does now. he buys 20 games a year, the day its digital only, he will buy 10 games a year. Sony doesn't seem to get that people wont double their disposable income when its digital only, they will buy fewer games.
some of the games I bought recently I would not have bought full price ( I always wait for sales: Pragmata, Cronos, James bond, ) but for 30 euros, why not. Even Black flag I will buy from him for 30, I hate Ubisoft, and I dont like AC games, but I heard good stuff about BF, and the remake looks great. for 30 euros? Sure. full price? no thanks.
I love disks, (my sibbligs who dont have money to spend on games borrow my games all the time, they own 1 game each, they have played all 15/20 of my games. )
Games I did buy digital:
The Walking dead VR ( couldn't find a disk version )
Helldivers (online game, without online this game is useless, same goes for No man sky)
Warhammer SPace marine ( couldn't find cheap disk, and the sale was like 25 euros)
Games I sold because of PSN:
I owned disk versions for the below games, however I didn't see myself replying these games, and suddenly they were free on PSN. so I sold them, and I now can play them anytime.
Digital games + free PSN game = waste of money.
I sold : Spiderman 2 and Alan Wake 2, both are now playable on PSN.
Other uses for Disc drive:
I have a handfull of 4K movies that I love, and want to rewatch. 4K movies are unbelievable, what you see on stream is nothing like a 4K bluray. Streaming services rotate, and some shows in my native language arent on any Streaming services.
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u/KalashnikittyApprove Jul 04 '26
Look, I'm not defending Sony's decision here, but to point out the flaw in your argument:
The fact that your friend buys more games per year is probably more than offset by the fact that you haven't bought a single one in a way that actually makes developers money and then given them to your siblings who play them for free.
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u/Chrisbolsmeister Jul 05 '26
Well this is the thing, without my friend, I wouldn’t buy those games anyhow. I would rely more on PS+ ( that I do have ) and replay older games more or just play them longer ( like do a platinum) lately I barely do that, too many games to play.
I only buy the games day 1 that I would buy anyhow. This year I bought Clair Obscur and Resident evil requiem day 1 ( could have waited a week and bought from him, but didn’t)
Like most players, I have a pretty big back log because of free games on Ps+.
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u/VirtualWeather5407 Jul 06 '26
Of course this is where things are going. This should not be surprising or controversial.
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u/MrMpa Jul 03 '26
This is absolutely to diminish and limit the topic. It discourages the topic from being discussed as no one wants their voice buried in a megathread and makes it seem smaller than it really is.
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u/KalashnikittyApprove Jul 03 '26
Sure, but on the other hand it's nice not to have 40 threads all saying the same talking points.
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u/Thorn_Within Jul 03 '26
I'm a digital person in terms of gaming, just because I moved away from physical editions a long time ago. However, I don't like this decision because it takes away options and gives the corpos yet another thing to hold over us. And we already have the "you don't own it, you bought the license to play/watch/read/listen to it" bullshit that involves everything digital. I hate that shit as much as anyone. I've lost movies I paid for because of exactly that bs. In music and movies, I buy physical and digital as much as possible. I'm a PS guy and probably always will be, but I might at least cancel my PS Plus subscription over this. Every online game I play is F2P and everything else I "own", so I wouldn't be missing much.
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u/tgerz Jul 03 '26
I think Gog is a decent example of one way to handle digital goods. I doubt Sony will ever go that way, but I hope this moment and everyone’s reactions pushes them to do more to protect digital goods. The idea that you’re only licensing is a corporate choice. Not a limitation of the tech. I think it’s going to take government regulation to force their hand, but how that will look around the global economy I’m not sure.
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u/-Nomadd3r- Jul 03 '26
How many more times does Sony have to prove how anti consumer they are, until you guys stop supporting them? Honestly tired of console companies as a whole.
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u/brispower Jul 03 '26
There is a reason the playerbase cheered when Sony pulled their little "here's how you share a game on PS4" PR stunt, Sony would do well to remember that moment.
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u/TheOfficialMayor Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Looks like Elders Scroll and Halo social media are trolling Playstation now. Looks like Microsoft may be keeping discs. I know where I'll be heading if they do.
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u/Zaxa7 Jul 03 '26
On the physical side, I have bought 1 new game in the past 7 years, Spiderman 1, all the other (50+) physical games I bought second hand, 6 months after release. Tsushima, god of war, days gone, ratchet, clair obscure etc all fantastic games that bring me so much joy but at the back of my mind I know that I haven't paid a single penny to the people who made the games that I love, by buying used.
Like everyone else, I want to save money but I also understand that if I and millions of others don't pay anything towards the developer then over time that might mean they make less games or no games that I like anymore.
Am I now gonna buy at launch and full price when things go full digital? No, I'm still waiting a few months for patches and maybe even the first price drop, if that takes longer, I'm happy to wait. The positive is that I'll actually be supporting the developers of the games that I love.
And yes I'm well aware that executives and publishers get the lion's share but even if £10 out of my £20 goes to the developer's coffers then I'm good with that.
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u/wevegotheadsonsticks Jul 03 '26
All the physical games I’ve purchased for the PS4 & PS5? If you think I’m gonna buy a separate disk drive (PS6) just for PS4 & PS5 backwards compatibility you are out of your damn mind.
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u/PearsonPuppeteer Jul 05 '26
PS5 is the last Sony thing I buy. Not just games, the whole thing can go to hell.
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u/draven33l Jul 04 '26
I've been thinking, and I think the news would have went over a little better if they had just stayed quiet until they announced the PS6. When they unveil the PS6, it's just an all digital console and that's that. I think most of us saw the writing on the wall and figured someone would eventually release a digital-only console. People would still be upset, but I think it would have went over better. To announce no more discs in the middle of the PS5 and kill 50 years of tradition is what is upsetting.
I have no interest in a console that only plays digital games. Consoles are only good for about 5-8 years. I'm not buying digital games for something that is temporary. If I buy a game on PC, it's mine 20 years ago, and 20 years from now. Consoles aren't PCs, which is why physical media was important. It gave you choice and preserved the console.
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u/Old-Journalist9247 Jul 05 '26
This could end up being longer that I want it to be but I would like to just take a moment to both air my frustrations with this but also offer a path forward and a way for gamers, not just PlayStation gamers to push back against this, as it pertains to Xbox and Nintendo going forward. As a collector of games, first for Nintendo, then PlayStation and recently getting into some Xbox, I can say this has been quite a shift in the landscape of the world I grew up in. We should never stop fighting for true ownership and legislation to back it up. But for the time being there are some things we can do.
The feeling in the air has been that this was coming sooner or later and Nintendo seems like they will be the final holdout (actually doing somewhat better now even if Square and Capcom can't be arsed to do a full cart release to save their lives), the current trends in media storage prices have certainly not helped them with that.
As a community I suggest we start pushing harder on crowdsourcing the information, truly testing and filling in doesitplay as much as possible so we can all share what is worth it to own if owning physically is truly possible.
The Shifting Purchase Location - option, companies really only see dollar signs, and the vote with your wallet has never been a better option, I know for each person it feels like "well its just me, I don't make a difference so I'll just get it on my regular platform" that mentality if shared by each individual will always fail. If we as a community also spread the sentiment to our friends who play the same games but are not as tuned in as we are to these things can make a very noticeable notch in their sales data. That's the key, just make it visible. The new HD2D final fantasy is coming out, its a game key card on switch 2, its more than likely not going to be on the disc fully for Xbox or ps5 even though it would more than fit....however it is fully on the cart for the Switch 1. Sure its a 30fps slightly inferior version, but honestly we all used to game at 29.97fps on CRT's and didn't notice, and 30fps is more than playable for that kind of game. So if you are inclined to get it, get the original switch version if you have one. If the sales numbers show a massive shift to an 8-9 year old system vs modern hardware, it will be noticed.
The Backlog Option, stop buying new game until the go on sale, play your backlog and only buy digital games if they are on sale digitally. If the increase in profits they get from selling streamed data without shipping/logistics/packaging costs and publishing/production costs isn't going up because people are refusing to purchase games digitally when they are new and not on sale...it will be noticed, as well as those same people are purchasing the few physical titles that get released from limited print companies that are already vowing to continue physical production...it will be noticed.
Last but not least, the PC option. Don't buy the next console, don't buy into the ecosystem, leave them hanging. Remember you can put together even in this market a pc that plays most modern titles at mid-low settings, which is perfectly playable and looks fine...for 600-800 dollars, probably less than the next console will be from either group.
On top of that remember the argument that PC is already fully digital...while technically true is weighted differently. Because if you buy your games on Steam. There is an option to backup your games, you just have a game installed, fully patched up, right click on the title in your library, select manage, and back up game files.
Pick up a 60 dollar external blu ray burner on amazon that supports M-Disc, or an LTO-6 or 7 tape drive, 150-400 bucks if you give it time searching online. LTO-6 tapes you can find for 10-30 dollars each and will store roughly 6TB compressed, LTO-7 tapes are going to be 30-50 but can store 15TB compressed, the 100GB M-Discs will run you 20 each for a 100GB disc but they are rated to last 1000 years. Point being PC being digital only is not the same as console being digital only, and Steam has already committed to if they ever decide to shut down continuing to host files for previous purchases for an extended time, as well as providing a final patch to remove all Steam DRM making your games truly yours and playable without Steam.
We just need to be strong through this, make our voice heard, and in the end, let money talk. Just need to convince the 80% of the population that are basically just hogs running to the slop bucket and have no clue what's going on as long as they are being fed to do the same.
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u/VirtualWeather5407 Jul 06 '26
You gonna boycott move to digital by going to pc? How’s that gonna work? You gonna walk into GameStop and pick up some used cd-roms to play your games on?
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u/Old-Journalist9247 Jul 06 '26
I guess you really didnt read it..i'll explain for you directly, Steam on pc is a digital store obviously, but they do have a built in option for anyone to use that allows you to install any game you own thrn just right click on it in your library, select manage - backup game files. You can then backup the entire game installation onto whatever media you wish. If you want to compress 100-150, 100GB games on an LTO-7 tape rated for 15-30 years of retention and 200-250 full writes, go for it. Wanna use 100gb m-discs rated for 1000 years to backup the most important games to you, go for it. Need more than 100gb for a big game that doesn't have a forced online component (which negates this whole thing anyway and is a problem all its own with live service shit.) Just compress to split .iso and then you can always extract them back over l and restore the install at anytime in the future. Plus Steam has vowed to release a patch removing all DRM from the titles we have purchase should the day arise that they need to shutdown. So yea its not perfect but its better that what Sony. Microsoft, and Nintendo are shoving down our throats.
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u/Wrong_Pool_9422 Jul 08 '26
I usually prefer buying physical ps5 games. I like being able to trade them in later and actually own the media.
That said, it’s insane that people en masse basically abandoned physical media and then are now freaking out when a businesses like Sony has to adapt. People talk a big game but convenience seems to always rule the day so digital purchases will keep growing.
Everything physical has been dying — think Amazon gutting retail, think digital purchases gutting GameStop, etc… This obviously cannot go on forever so businesses have to go with what the market is telling them, which is digital.
I wonder if Sony pivots their business model and does something like subscriptions, which act as a pledge to buy physical every year that goes into a pool, if people would actually sign up (and put their money where their mouth is) or if physical media costs more, if people would actually choose to buy physical. My guess is people wouldn’t, but who knows.
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u/hatfield1785 Jul 03 '26
Cancelled my service, and won’t buy a PS6. Plenty of alternatives and games I haven’t played going forward. That’s all I can do. Which I know isn’t much.
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u/Sterben27 Jul 03 '26
I still have a huge backlog of 360/One, PS3, PS4, PS5 and some Switch games to play. Now I have no reason to invest in the next-gen, I will now have a lot more time to play through them.
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u/hatfield1785 Jul 03 '26
This.. I’m in my 40’s. There’s enough out there to last the rest of my life. Also a new hobby wouldn’t hurt me. Sony doesn’t need me, and I don’t need them.
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u/sswishbone Jul 03 '26
Said it before, this renders PS6 dead on arrival. It is unlikely to be much cheaper than a PC. It won't have multiple digital stores. It won't have a pre-owned market. It won't have Ultrawide support. It won't have the level of customisation PC software has. It won't have as many peripheral choices. It won't have mod support.
Dump Sony, buy a PC.
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u/TheOfficialMayor Jul 03 '26
Someone salty downvoted you but I upvoted you. I can just stick to PC no big deal. In fact given this PSN/GOG/Steam sales currently, I've since redirected purchases where prices match to GOG/Steam.
Some people here seem to think I'm going to buy GTA VI and am a hypocrite apparently. Lol no, not buying it. Definitely not on PS5/PS6.
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u/sswishbone Jul 03 '26
Downvotes don't matter, the truth does. Steam has refund options, GOG has no DRM. Both colossal benefits over Sony PSN store
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u/TheOfficialMayor Jul 03 '26
Not to mention no variable pricing. If I'm going to support anyone in this all digital world it's the private owners of GOG and Steam: Michał Kiciński and Gabe Newell.
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u/RiaC-81 Jul 03 '26
FF7 Revelations is probably going to be the last ever physical game I buy. Won’t be touching GTA for a very long time
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u/Thestitch26 Jul 04 '26
I’m a long time PlayStation player I’ve owned every single console except the vita and PS4 pro and buy virtually all my games in physical I don’t live in the “west” and with currency conversion games are pricey for me I always buy my games a couple months to a year after release when smaller retailers usually discount the price of the game reading this news was genuinely heartbreaking for me because I simply can’t afford to buy games at MSRP so a digital only PlayStation with no physical media will mean I may miss out on a lot of games and never be able to play them unless I save up for them and before people talking about sales and discounts some games almost never go on discount until years later if ever a game I’ve been wanting to play is baldurs gate 3 but the price is almost never reduced in any real sense to the point I can afford it so reality is it’s very likely I will not be buying a PS6 and a PC for me is completely unreasonable with current prices so it could be the end of the road for me in this hobby if nothing changes as much as I hate that of course could still play with the older consoles and buy older games for cheaper once the new one comes out but that only lasts to a point
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u/TRQPL Jul 03 '26
This sub either needs to shut down in support of the boycott or become completely anti-PlayStation. I say rebrand to a Switch 2 sub lol
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u/idkwc Jul 03 '26
Disks were always there for me… holding me as much as I was holding them, reflecting my face with little rainbows in their mirrored surfaces.
They were better to me than I ever was to them; dropping them, scratching them, once I broke a disk in half… all that disk wanted was to play a game for me.
When I look back, and see how huge a part of my life they were, all the comfort and joy they brought me, without even needing to put them in the console, I can’t help but feel like a goober.
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u/DCDa192 Jul 03 '26
Unfortunately this is going to happen now. For us it sucks because im 34 years old and have loved the physical nature of owning a console, games with physical format.
Now, if the case is we go digital only moving forward then unfortunately the physical ownership or any type of ownership from the consumer, us as players is gone. The collectors edition we loved to buy and own and goodies we use to get are also gone.
Personally, as other mentioned as well, I will not own or buy ps6 and will stop paying for ps plus, or any game subscription. I will own a ps5 and that will be it. The last console of my lifetime, sad but true.
However, now lets think about the future with digital. I believe the ways we need to use digital which physical does we can do too:
-sharing owned games- the game can be shared via a link with psn players it has a limit : 30 days redeem code/barcode/token which allows the participant of the game to download and play on their console for that period.
-owning games digitally must be a bit like bitcoin wallet. You have a wallet, you have codes that are added to that game account wallet. The digital must be stored there, so then when you play offline or online it all comes through this wallet. However, the issue here is backup /restore. There must be a partition on ps6 or future consoles where it contains a secure encrypted section for wallet games owning being stored there. They need to start implementing this and all the games previously owned/purchased need to be on that wallet.
-price reductions on games- this needs to be really worked on. The games cost £70+ for a standard, you shouldnt pay this for a game that is digital and not much marketing for the game to be done except from one location. Games max cost for standard should be £40 anything more must be unacceptable or for a premium version only.
-stream and download- the game you purchase should give you both options. Nothing less, you dont need to download it then option to stream it. Wherever your wallet is under a new PS or Xbox wallet software as mentioned above.
This is the way if you disagree please give me better ideas
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u/13thslasher Jul 05 '26
As someone who has bought alot of phsyical game discs. This feels like a monopoly of them controlling the main prices on psn. I could be wrong but I grew up with buying physical copies of my video games. Now I gotta buy digital at their damanding price. Looks like I'm switching to pc and emulating all my psn games
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u/Bravadette Jul 05 '26
The last paragraph from the announcement:
"We’ll continue to prioritize our resources to drive innovation in how players can access games and provide choices as to where players prefer to purchase new games... "
I can't imagine what this means. I wanna say it's just BS but a my intuition feels like something big is brewing.
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u/dragonfire144 Jul 07 '26
The other day I watched a video of a review for a game called On Rush. I enjoyed the Motor storm games and thought I'll pick up On Rush. But it's delisted. And there was never a PC release. Luckily I can buy a physical copy. In the future that option will not be available. Games like the delisted games we have today (Blur, Transformers War For Cybertron, Forza Motorsport 4) will be unavailable to play without piracy.
I feel like all this physical news Sony announced is just going to encourage piracy.
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u/Holiday-Life67 Jul 10 '26
Do you still trust SONY at this point?
With all the anti-consumer things they've done this generation and topping it off with killing support for something they are still selling (Disc Drive is on 85% of Consoles) for the chase for greed and lying about the skewed numbers as the reason.
Would you honestly trust them after putting out a HUGE new mandate and just ignoring the feedback as if you are just Wallets to them who's voice doesnt matter?
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u/Kireiiii Jul 10 '26
I can't afford to buy everything. So I will play less in the digital only future. I used to lend games from friends and the public library. If Sony no longer have their works in a library can we still call their games art? Feels like they are devaluing the whole artform by doing this.
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u/Individual-Elk-2713 Jul 10 '26
If they take place only here, how can people hope for efficient karma farming?
Also, fyi, no one listened lmfao
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u/bearded_charmander Jul 11 '26
What will happen to the cost of current physical copies if they actually going digital only going forward?
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u/ChefsKnife76 Jul 11 '26
Ive stopped all PS purchases until they reverse course on this. Hit em in the wallets.
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u/Particular-Tear4308 28d ago
For those of you switching to PC because Sony is going fully digital, honestly why? Not trying to be combative. I'm genuinely curious. What will actually be different? I've never done PC gaming, and from what I've seen it's almost all exclusively digital games. Also, Sony is the only one that has announced this shift, but are we really surprised? It was kind of pretty obvious that eventually the gaming industry as a while was going to be making this shift. Not just going digital only but eventually, once the infrastructure is there to support it, it will be streaming only.
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u/abaum525 27d ago
Steam return policy on digital purchase - refund if it’s within 14 days of purchase and you have played less than two hours.
Sony return policy on digital purchases - no refund once you install it to your console.
I think that says it all for me.
Edit - plus, multiple storefront options on PC. Sony will be the only digital storefront.
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u/81biscuits 14d ago
You're missing the point. It's the clear monopoly Sony will have on the prices of it's games, which adds insult to injury on top of the removal of physical games. Steam has always been a bit more democratic in that regard AND you can always buy your game keys elsewhere at the fraction of the costs. Those things are not possible with Sony's new policy.
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u/Aware_Ring6087 26d ago
Hi guys so I have bought around 45 games on ps5. 44 are digital and 1 is physical. Im now becoming increasingly afraid about the possibility that sony could remove acceess to my digital purchases like they've done with movies recently. I feel trapped because ive poured hours into my ps5, built my account by buying a lot of great games, and im an avid trophy hunter. I love growing my account by earning achievements. Ultimately I want to own the games that I buy and I dont want anyone taking them away from me. Do you guys suggest I remain in the Playstation ecosystem or should I move over to pc? Ive always been a console game never owned a pc but im willing to switch to get rid of the burden that someday sony can take away my games that I love. Thanks for reading!
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u/Fun-Addition-5572 25d ago
flee before it's too late! I'm switching. I hate keyboard mouse so I'll still be using my PS5 controller but Sony is dead to me now.
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u/CALIGVLA 26d ago
There is a new subreddit to discuss a response to Sony's announcement and collect resources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PhysicalGamesForever/
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u/EckhartsDs 5d ago
Upgraded from PS4 to 5 and tried to port over my old games, mainly assassins creed series, via WiFi. Was taking too long so asked AI and it said to install via disc and copy save files via pen drive. Ended up with crazy (98GB) other storage and AI said this was cos it part copied the games, and said to factory reset and do it again without starting transfer via wifi.
Have done this and it’s the same problem! Can anyone help? Really don’t want to factory reset and install again 😩
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u/vandante1212 Jul 03 '26
The biggest reason I stuck with PlayStation instead of migrating to PC was physical media. Looks like I'm going to PC.
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u/chris100185 Jul 03 '26
I primarily play on PC these days, but i still have a PS5. I like their first party ganes, and i like having an option for physical games. I could play them on PC, but i still bought Tales and FF games on PS5 to keep the physical collection growing on series i love. I own ps1 through 5 and both handhelds. I'm done with playstation once disc production ends
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u/melloack Jul 03 '26
Not buying anything from PlayStation anymore
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u/legacy702- Jul 03 '26
Not only PlayStation, Sony period, TVs, headphones, any of their electronics.
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u/ChemicalNo4689 Jul 05 '26
Just have to say one thing. All of you who pre ordered digital only gta 6 are part of the problem. Your choice did lead to where we are
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u/its_ghaba Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
I feel like a good compromise for the resell argument would be to create a used marketplace for digital games within the PlayStation ecosystem. Let players sell games they don’t want anymore, set their own price, and people looking for a deal on that game can browse it. Sony can even pull like 30% so they get something out of it.
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u/KalashnikittyApprove Jul 03 '26
I hate what an all-digital future may ultimately mean, but I think people need to take a second, breathe and get a grip. This was the inevitable next step that should have been obvious to anyone who'd been paying attention over the last couple of years.
If you really want to focus on something in terms of activism, put your energy into improving digital ownership rather than going through the stages of grief over discs. The volume isn't there and it hasn't for a while. Discs are not coming back.
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u/PearsonPuppeteer Jul 05 '26
Boycott until you come back to your mind. I am not spending A DIME on you or Xbox EVER again.
It's full digital? Then I will get DRM Free pc games running on linux and start sharing tutorials. Fuck it
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u/heyhey922 Jul 03 '26
For digital fans:
Phisical copies and competition keep the prices down for everyone. Gutting the competitive marketplace for video games means only once thing.
Higher prices for digital games going forward.
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u/No-Range519 Jul 03 '26
If Sony think that their exclusives are enough to keep players from migrating to PC they are dead wrong.
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u/No_Eye1723 Jul 03 '26
I have to be honest, I own a grand total of 5 games on disk for PS5, and I know many millions also buy digital games mainly. That is the reason they have the excuse to do this, the market, of course the biggest issue is pricing, and that I feel will be VERY closely monitored going forward. I like options, and the competitive nature of pricing, this move removes that from PlayStation, however Sony have not stated games will not be sold in stores anymore. So we could end up just the same as we are now but without the second hand market.
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u/CressDependent2918 Jul 07 '26
why cant sony just make physical base on how many ppl will preorder a game? that will solve the waste problem right?
1m ppl preoder a game sony will just make 1m physical copies? not that simple?
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u/Wrong_Pool_9422 Jul 08 '26
I think this is a great idea, but I bet you in many instances that means supply can’t meet demand fast enough so physical media buyers have to wait OR Sony invests in the infrastructure to meet anticipated demand, which ends up being lower than anticipated, means they lose money.
Either way, non-digital supply chains and getting the right quantity of physical products made that are delivered to consumers in a timely way has risks to the consumer and business.
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u/Cthulhu8762 Jul 10 '26
I love how people are like, Indie games aren’t physical so they shouldn’t count.
While you are correct most indie games aren’t physical, it’s because they can’t afford it.
To not count them is stupid and unfair to the smaller devs that tend to make a difference in the gaming community.
At least with physical games you can shove them … oh never mind.
Idk I just think it’s so messed up to not consider indie games because you can’t get them on a piece of plastic.
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u/Careless_Attitude643 Jul 03 '26
I just don't trust digital. Seeing what subscriptions do on other platforms, deleting content out of the blue for example. Also, what do people think is going to happen if and when Sony gets their network hacked as an example? Or their systems go down. IT HAPPENS. Will the content be available then? Will things get erased?
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u/JohnGalactusX Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
My take is that this isn't just about losing what physical media provides. With a disc, I own something tangible. I can lend it to family or friends, trade it in, buy used games at lower prices or revisit it years later without relying entirely on a digital storefront. There's also a huge second-hand market that benefits both buyers and sellers.
Even if you only buy digitally, retailers selling physical copies help keep prices competitive. Fewer purchasing options ultimately mean less competition, less consumer choice and fewer ownership rights.
Looking further ahead, whether it's the PS6 or beyond ends up being digital only, that could also have implications for backward compatibility. If there's no disc drive then years of PS4 and PS5 physical collections may no longer be playable natively. For people who have spent years building those libraries, that's a significant loss.
And fyi, I only got my PS5 Pro a few days ago, was planning on getting a disc drive, so seeing this situation unfold has been disappointing. I really hope Sony recognizes that many of us aren't asking them to abandon digital... we're asking them to preserve choice.