Sony to end physical disc production for new PlayStation games from January 2028

• In 2013, Sony mocked Xbox by demonstrating how easy it was to share a PlayStation disc. More than a decade later, gamers say Sony is becoming the very thing it poked fun at.
• Sony's decision to stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in 2028 could save costs and boost digital profits, but analysts say consumers will lose the ability to trade, lend, resell, or truly own games.
• The move could deal a major blow to the global second-hand gaming market, estimated at about $7 billion.

A PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and a stack of retail game cases are seen, with the Sony logo displayed on a screen in the background, in Athens, Greece, on July 14, 2026. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it will permanently discontinue the production of physical discs for all new PlayStation games at the end of 2027. Starting in January 2028, all newly released video games will be available exclusively in digital formats and for purchase via the PlayStation Store. (Photo by Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

A Reversal of Fortune

In June 2013, Sony's PlayStation released a short video demonstrating how easy it was to share games on PlayStation. Then-Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida handed a disc to colleague Adam Boyes — and that was it. But the clip was viewed as more than a simple instruction; it was seen as a dig at rival Microsoft Xbox's strict game-sharing policies.

"Trade in the game at retail. Sell it to another person. Lend it to a friend, or keep it forever," then-President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America Jack Tretton said at a conference that same year. "When a gamer buys a PS4 disc, they have the rights to use that copy of the game."

The line sparked a standing ovation and helped intensify the backlash that led Xbox to roll back its restrictive policies.

Now, in the eyes of some, Sony is becoming the very villain it mocked.

The New Policy

PlayStation has announced it will end physical disc production for new games released on its consoles starting in January 2028, making new releases digital-only. Boxed retail versions, if they are sold, will contain a download code rather than a disc.

One of the first games that will use this model is reportedly Take-Two Interactive's highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, published by Rockstar Games and slated for release this year.

Economic Incentives

The economics are in Sony's favor. By selling more games digitally, the company has less need to manufacture physical boxes, and physical discs are eliminated completely, improving profit margins.

Michael Pachter, managing director of strategic planning at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC that the move will save Sony a bit of money, but "there can be no question that the consumer pays the tax in terms of less optionality."

What Consumers Lose

A disc can be:

• Resold
• Traded in
• Lent to a friend
• Given as a gift
• Kept on a shelf
• Preserved after a storefront shuts down

A download code cannot do any of that.

Without physical discs, gamers lose the ability to buy cheaper used games or recoup money from games they have finished. The change will give Sony a tighter grip on where games are sold, when they are discounted, and how long consumers can access them.

Industry Reaction

"This is a truly ironic turn of events," Kazunori Ito, director of equity research at Morningstar, told CNBC. Sony won goodwill in 2013 by presenting physical discs as the "simple, consumer-friendly option," he said.

On YouTube, gamers resurfaced Sony's old clips with bitter comments: "This is like watching the wedding video after the divorce," one wrote. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," wrote another.

Existing physical games, and titles released on disc before the cutoff, will not be affected.

Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, a division of Sony Computer Entertainment, speaks at the Sony PlayStation E3 2013 press conference in Los Angeles, California, June 10, 2013. Robyn Beck | Afp | Getty Images

"This is an extremely anti-consumer decision that has no legitimate justification and communicates a disdain for players in their ecosystem," Michael Futter, founder of video game industry consultancy F-Squared, told CNBC.

For Futter, the issue is that consoles are closed ecosystems.