Gamers are not giving up with their campaign to prevent Sony from phasing out physical games for PlayStation consoles. Several thousand signatures are being added on a daily basis to a petition to save physical games, and the total has closed in on another major milestone.
In less than a week after the petition’s launch on Change.org, it had already reached the 100,000 signature mark. As it continues to grow, the petition has now reached three times as many names, zeroing in on the 300,000 signatures. This milestone was reached in less than two weeks after it was announced at the start of the month that Sony was planning to phase out physical games completely by the start of 2028.
At Least 300K Gamers Don’t Want a Digital-Only Future
“Here’s exactly what’s at stake, because it’s worth being clear: after January 2028, no new PlayStation game will be able to release on a disc at all, no matter how many people want one,” the organizer, Jade Pearce, wrote in a recent update after hitting the 250K mark. “Games out before then can still be printed, but every new title after that date is digital-only. That’s the line we’re asking Sony not to cross. Why keep going past 250,000? Because a small petition is easy to ignore. A number that keeps climbing while the press keeps covering it is not. Every signature past this point raises the pressure and makes the story harder to wave away.”
The timing of the original announcement by Sony couldn’t have been worse. There had already been controversy surrounding Rockstar’s revelation that there would be no physical discs of Grand Theft Auto VI, as only a digital download code would be included in the box for the physical copy. This was followed by PlayStation users losing access to hundreds of movies that were purchased digitally. Very soon after, the big announcement about physical discs was released. According to Sony, the decision was made in order to enable the company to “align more closely with how most of [the PlayStation] community prefers to access and play games today.”
Sony Has Committed to Ending Physical Disc Production
“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, whether that’s at retailers or PlayStation Store,” the announcement stated. “We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans and we thank you for your continued support.”
Sony is the only company at this point to announce a digital-only future for console gaming, though there are certainly concerns that Microsoft and Nintendo may be following suit. The biggest concern gamers argue is that they won’t really own the games they buy if they don’t have the disc. Many have pointed to the situation with Sony removing legally-purchased digital movies from PlayStation consoles as a warning about what could happen with digital gaming libraries in the future.
To sign the petition to rescue physical games, it can be found at Change.org.
