By now it is likely no secret to anyone that Sony is to cease production of PlayStation discs by January 2028. Right now there is a lot of debacle about the numbers shared by Sony to justify their decision to cease disc production. Whether those number are correct or not, I can’t really say and I guess no one really knows for sure, not even Sony maybe.

What is problematic about Sony’s decision is that you, in the future, no longer is allowed to own what you purchase, sure digital storefronts are easy and convenient, but fact is that you do not really own anything, you purchase a license. That by itself it not a problem as long as the terms of your purchase is not changed – but this is also where it becomes problematic, because we also recently learned that Sony pulled a lot of movies from the Sony store, movies that people had purchased, but terms and conditions revealed again that you only purchased a license.

So when you but digitally, you have content available for as long as Sony allows you to. Some are probably not worried about that, and I think we have yet to see the bigger picture of how pure digital will play out. I am of the old School, I like to have my games on disc, even knowing that by today’s standards you need to download 0-day patches, and then there’s the other part of the problem – DRM. Companies like Ubisoft have a reputation of requiring online connectivity when installing your game. It’s an awful practice because this means that installation is only possible for as long as Ubisoft’s servers allow you to install the game.

Ubisoft is still practicing this type of DRM, the to-be-released Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced requires you to have an online connection available when installing the game. If you have not seen the financial difficulties Ubisoft are facing, shutting down studios and laying off people, to stay afloat, who knows for how long the Ubisoft servers will be responding. So even though you own the disc, it might be useless in the future.

Other discs, and keycards on the Nintendo Switch 2, are known to act only act as a license, meaning that the physical disc or cartridge you purchased will cease to work once the servers at the other end stops responding, so you’ve bought a physical item, but it still only serves as a license, you own no data.

Physical items can be sold and purchased second hand though, even license CDs and Keycards, something the digital only is not capable of, unless some kind of store front is made to be able to resell your license, but in all honestly I do not see that ever happening – Sony would rather sell the license themselves. But buying license cd/keycards is also problematic, because again, yes you own something physical, but you do not own the actual game data.

Again, some will not care one bit, I think it’s a generation thing. My kids have grown up with everything being on loan, but also moaning when a movie disappears from Netflix, HBO or other before they were able to finish watching it – or when they want to watch it again – it’s just gone. Digital is convenient, I see the advantages, but when I in return have to give up my rights, it becomes a problem for me – if buying is not owning, then you’re not really buying, you’re leasing.  

There needs to be room for all, those who do not care about owning and those who do, but claiming that physical is no longer relevant based on narratives that I personally do not believe to be true is a problem for me. Comparing physical to digital without taking all data into account, to prove your point is a problem, and I personally think that’s part of what Sony is bringing to the table, or lack thereof. I will put on my tinfoil hat and claim that Corporate Sony of course would want us to buy everything digitally, that way they can decide the price, save cost on production, avoid second hand purchases and in their eyes sell more licenses.

I have to briefly “touch base” on Grand Theft Auto VI, the biggest game of the decade, too big to fail I’d say, but Rockstar is also making a push for all digital for unknown reasons, we will most likely never be able to actually own GTA VI. Maybe it’s just too big to fit on a disc, but if that was the case, then make 2 or 3, it would not really matter to those who just want to actually own what they purchase.

Honestly I have a feeling that GTA VI will be a nightmare when it comes to in-game purchases, we are already seen some, like if you do not buy the premium version there are assets in the game you will simply not have access to.

I’m am deeply saddened to see physical media disappear, but again referring to my own kids, we’ve kind of been seeing it coming – they do not care about owning, they think my room filled with physical games is strange, why bother when you can just buy it on Steam or other. Their problem is that they do not yet know the consequences, and by the time they “wake up” – it’s too late.

When a consumer purchase a product, a game, we need to have access to the full data, DRM free, no online connectivity required to “activate it”. Sure patches can appear after the product was manufactured, but that’s just how things are – but the physical media we buy has to be fully functional, with no limits.

The option to sell your games, what you own, is necessary. It allows those who are not able to afford games at launch to hopefully pick up a cheaper copy down the road – or simply pick up games second hand because you refuse to pay full price. I find it highly disturbing that buying isn’t owning, that I am forced to license games instead of owning them, at full price - and I refuse to buy products that require online connectivity to install, from Ubisoft or other.

With that said, yes I have GTA VI pre-ordered, as said it’s too big to fail, do I approve of Rockstars decision not to offer a physical product? – that is not a code in box for a digital license? No.

It’s an unfortunate future of games, and more, we are looking at – while I think the recent uproar against Sony is needed, I also think it’s too little too late – the Sony PlayStation 6 will still succeed when its released and Rockstar’s GTA VI will still make record sales, even though we own nothing after having bought either of them.

Anyway, that was my 2 cents, I hope it made a little bit of sense and physical media, it sure has been fun collecting and owning.