One has to wonder the direction of the industry as things have looked bleak since Summer Games Fest. The latest news comes in the form of the removal of physical media releases from PlayStation. While Xbox has slowed this transition and offers digital-only consoles, PlayStation has been a vestige of releasing physical discs. Grand Theft Auto VI would not be released with a physical disc, at least at launch, but has physical copies. Today, PlayStation put out an announcement that starting in January 2028, there would be no more physical media coming for games. It is also shutting down the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita store. Not a good day for game preservationists.
Details on the Ending of Physical Discs
Sid Shuman, Senior Director for Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications posted on the PlayStation Blog this morning. There were no rumors leading up to this as this was a pure news, shadow-drop announcement. He is citing that this is due to customer preference. “This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.”
Going online, there is a mixed reaction to physical media, but the thing is that people buy digital consoles for a plethora of reasons. One of those is price. One thing that is mentioned, and it may be a swerve, is the term “disc”. The Nintendo Switch 2 uses physical cards, and this announcement doesn’t state that PlayStation is ending “physical media“, it just states discs. Maybe this is a sign of things to come for the PlayStation 6 to use memory cards? One could hope. Shawn Layden, the former face of PlayStation recently stated that the company’s biggest mistake with the PlayStation Vita was the proprietary memory cards. If the cards become a replacement for discs in the future, Sony can’t go down that road. This is all speculation.
Shutting Down the PlayStation 3 Digital Market
On the same day and what should be a clear sign as to why physical media is needed, PlayStation has also announced that it is shutting down its PlayStation 3 Digital Market, which includes other platforms of games such as the Vita, PSP and previous PlayStation titles. There will be different stages of shutting it down beginning with Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua in August, then additional Latin American and Middle Eastern countries by the end of the year. In all other countries, including America, it will be July 2027.
To our amazing players, we want to give our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing passion and support, which has helped inspire us to shape PlayStation into what it is today. We are excited for the future ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of play. We look forward to having you on this journey with us as we explore new game worlds and new adventures that have yet to come.
No mention of accessing your previous library is listed if you have one of these consoles. It may be worth going into the store and pulling this all to a hard drive. The Vita still allows for management via the Content Manager Assistant. This website appears to be 15 years old but still is currently up. You can check it out here. The PlayStation 5, currently, appears to be the last generation of video games to offer a disc-based medium. Back in 2013, Don Mattrick told Geoff Keighley in an interview that if you wanted to play offline games with a disc, you would need to stick with the Xbox 360. The pricing for classic game consoles just went up.
