Sony stopping PlayStation physical media deliver of new games by 2028
Sony is one the big names in videogame industry. Even with the endless debate of console vs gaming PC, there is always a product that is being spoke about for more than 30 years: PlayStation. One of the big news regarding PlayStation 1 was the format on which games were delivered. Major part of the consoles by that time used a cartridge system, which allowed a limited quantity of data on its own. Moreover, these cartridges often carried the game logic on hardware boards (ROM), while others could also carry additional functionality (such as SNS Super FX or Nitentendo64 accelerators) . With PlayStation 1 this changed, as a flat disc similar to a CD-ROM was all needed to play the games (in fact Nintendo GameCube also run their games on discs, so not all merit goes to Sony on that matter).
These discs were easier to produce from a mass-production perspective. All needed hardware was inside the console already. Comparing to cartridges, the available space for sprites and other game artifacts was vastly increased, allowing to create more interesting and futuristic games by the time, taking profit from all PlayStation 1 hardware had to offer. But both cartridges and discs still shared one advantage: you owned the game. You were in charge on when did you want to play it, for how much time. It was yours.
Some years later, Internet access was booming, becoming massively in use, specially broadband Internet. This allowed the introduction of new game distribution format, widely used nowadays: digital download. With this new way of delivering games, game publishers could cut costs on on physical media creation and distribution. All files needed to play the game were included on a big download file that gamers could download from the vendor store (think PlayStation Store) to the console internal memory, and run it from there. No need to insert or remove discs, you download it once and it is there to play, assuming console does not run out of space. The game is also yours, with a few caveats, but still playable when you want.
Sony annoucement on discontinuing disc production
Last 1st July, Sony announced that it would stop delivering new PlayStation games onto physical media by 2028 (affecting new games released after this date). Motivation for that was the massive preference for digital downloads over discs by current player base. In fact, the discs appeared on a time frame where Internet access was at low levels, and of course, speeds weren’t sufficient to download a disc content on an acceptable time. Nowadays Internet access is way more common and speeds are good to download a lot of big media. While convenient when speaking about game delivery, we cannot say the same for ownership.
Owning the game is important for a lot of people. You want to play a game when you want (or when it is possible after a long day of work). It is perfectly possible to do that, assuming we’re talking about games you purchased: games from libraries aggregated to a subscription service require you to have an ongoing payment, which will lock the game if not renewed.
Arguments for and against
Below I briefly discuss the main arguments for or against physical and digital games:
| Argument | Physical discs | Digital download |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Go to a store and grab a case containing the disc for the game you want. Also can order online and wait for it to be delivered by mail | Access the console store, select the game you want and download starts right after payment |
| Time to first play | Medium to high. Requires having a physical copy of the game into your console to start playing | Low to medium. Only dependent on download and installation time, not other user intervention required |
| Cost of delivering | Medium to high. To sell one copy of a game, the game producer needs to order the creation of physical media and arrange a distribution scheme (usually through brick and mortar or online stores) | Low to medium. Downloads are instantly distributed after payment, however more resources may be needed if a lot of users want to download the game. True cost is on download infrastructure |
| Customer ownership | Usually fully yours, unless the companion device used to play the content applies any kind of DRM/license | Can also be fully yours, since you keep it safe on your disk. It all depends on companion devices apply any restriction on the playback, such as DRM/license enforcement |
| Sharing with family/friends | Usually sharing the disc is enough for other party to benefit the game. You can play back once the game is returned to you | Dependent on game functionality. Usually not easy as lending a disc |
| End-of-life | Usually you can still run parts of the game which are not dependent on online functionality. You can resell the disc | Some parts of the game can also be playable offline, but usually you cannot resell the game |
As you can see, both digital and physical games can be owned. It all depends on DRM (Digital Rights Management) being applied or not. Remember that physical media can also be beyond DRM: think about DVD regions, for instance. Louis Rossmann, a well-known digital activist, defends this idea:
Although he may have a point, I still usually prefer physical media for one important reason: memories. A file on your computer is a file: you can’t touch it (physically), you can’t feel it. Touching the game box, flipping it, opening it an bring you memories for long years: all the joy you had with the game, all frustration on failing missions or levels, emotions. This connection is way stronger than with a file in your computer, in my opinion, creating a bridge with your present and past self allowing to sort of reviving the past old good times.