A game industry analyst responded SonyThe industry has decided to stop releasing physical discs as it has an opportunity to further reduce production costs. On July 1, Sony officially announced that it would stop issuing new video game discs for PlayStation consoles in January 2028.
Sony's decision that the next-gen console will be digital-only or include a disc drive sold separately has led many to believe. However, it's not yet clear how discontinuing the disc will affect physical game releases. An expert now believes, although the future is not entirely certain, but one thing seems clear that companies like Sony can now achieve better margins on sales by reducing costs.
PlayStation's biggest disc manufacturing site is already being rebuilt
While disc-based PlayStation games will continue to be released until 2028, Sony has already begun cutting back on production of physical copies.
Pre-paid game cards may soon replace physical boxes
“There is an opportunity to further reduce costs,” says Piers Harding-Rolls, games industry analyst at Ampere Analysis. He suggests that this could come through prepaid game cards or similar options. Harding-Rolls says that publishers are currently forced to take on more risk by investing in disc production and paying royalties to Sony “before any payment is received.” Therefore, the analyst believes that eliminating costs associated with physical media production can help publishers achieve better profit margins and eventually offset growth in other areas such as development and staff budgets.
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According to Harding-Rolls, the decline of physical game releases poses a direct threat to retailers that specialize in selling video games. To mitigate that risk, companies still believe they must develop more creative ways to offer some form of physical product. “Calling time on physical media means innovating around in-store digital game sales to try and replace lost business,” he says. One such “solution” could be a shift to prepaid game cards that many gamers are already familiar with and are cheaper to produce.
After the disc is lost, the game boxes may also shrink
Harding-Rolls believes Take-Two's decision to ditch Sony's no-disc policy and replace the GTA 6 disc with codes in the box will encourage more major video game publishers to follow suit. “[The] This move will accelerate the trend towards digital codes being sold at retail versus physical media,” he says. However, what remains uncertain is whether publishers will continue to issue these “physical codes for digital games” in full-size cases. If the main objective of the no-disc movement is to reduce production costs, it would mean publishers to reduce their costs or stop reducing the physical size.
In theory, a no-disc, all-digital gaming industry should be more sustainable given how ongoing RAM shortages and similar production disruptions have negatively affected video game companies. However, the related aspect is that a digital-only ecosystem threatens ownership rights, and as Harding-Rolls points out, it also “undermines the pre-owned game market.” Sony's track record of removing users' digitally owned products without notice or refund also doesn't help inspire optimism with how progress is currently being made.
Unsurprisingly, the response from gamers to Sony's announcement has been largely negative, and there is even a petition calling for Sony to reconsider its abandonment of the disc. That said, many experts, including Harding-Rolls, believe that “the importance of physical products is declining” and see no-disc policies as inevitable for large companies like Sony.
Source: Ampere Analysis
