Gamers won't be able to buy physical discs for new games after January 2028

Sony's decision to cull disc production for new PlayStation titles has outraged players.

Thousands have flocked to sign a petition, urging Sony to reverse its decision. More than 274,000 people have put their names to the campaign, titled "Don't Kill the Disc," which was launched on Change.org by Jade Pearce, who runs Canadian video game shop PNP Games.

Any new PlayStation game released after January 2028 will not be released as a disc you can hold in your hands. Instead, players will need to buy their games digitally, either through the PlayStation Store or as download codes from shops.

Sid Shuman, Senior Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said: "As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028.

If you have a PS4 or newer, this means you'll only be able to play new games digitally from the PlayStation Store.

Those backing the petition argue that buying a digital game isn't really ownership at all. Instead, they say it's more like renting access that could be taken away at any moment.

Ms Pearce wrote in a statement under the petition: "When the market leader ends the disc, the rest of the industry follows.

"The irony is hard to miss. At E3 2013, Sony won over a generation of players by promising that when you buy a PlayStation game, you can trade it in, sell it, lend it to a friend, or 'keep it forever,' and famously mocked the competition for trying to restrict exactly that. Thirteen years later, Sony is the one taking it away.

"A disc is a real game you own. You can lend it, trade it, resell it, gift it, collect it, or pass it down to your kids. A box with only a download code is not the same thing. It is a digital license in plastic packaging. You do not own it. You are renting access that can be revoked, and people have already had purchased movies deleted from their libraries and games pulled from sale weeks after launch."

Ms Pearce also warns that ending physical media will quietly wipe out an entire industry. Retailers, distributors, and countless small businesses all depend on boxed games to keep their doors open.

"That is thousands of jobs and countless small businesses," the petition states.

The Video Game History Foundation has also criticised Sony's move, describing it as "a hit to consumer rights, the resale market, and game creators whose businesses rely on the physical market."

Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra has urged gaming companies to make a "digital promise" guaranteeing players can always access their purchases. Sony hasn't responded since the backlash began. The company's PlayStation social media accounts have been dormant for days.

Aside from the petition, gamers are taking other actions by cancelling their PlayStation Plus subscriptions.

This is a paid subscription service for the Sony consoles of the same name that unlocks online gameplay, discounts on new purchases, a downloadable catalogue of PlayStation games, and free trials on new titles.

However, subscribers have said they're getting offers of up to 50% off in a promotion to win them back after cancelling. A Reddit user wrote: "In protest to Sony going all digital, I tried to cancel my subscription. But they hit me with a 50% off if I resubscribe."

Meanwhile, preparations for the shift are already underway. Sony's disc-printing facility in Austria, which churns out roughly 600,000 discs daily, has started moving staff and equipment towards producing optical microlenses instead.

The factory's parent company has invested around €30 million (about £25 million) in new machinery and expects disc output to drop to just 10% of current levels by 2028. Rather than making workers redundant, the plan is to retrain approximately 300 employees.

Analyst Daniel Ahmad estimates Sony sold more than 70 million physical discs in 2025 alone.