Sony Breaks Silence About Physical Game Discs, But Maintains its Stance

After announcing that it will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028, Sony has commented on the decision again following the strong backlash from players.

During a presentation on its first-quarter 2026 results, CFO Lin Tao made it clear that the company does not intend to reverse course and emphasized that the announcement was made a year and a half in advance specifically to prepare consumers and the market for the change.

According to the executive, the main reason for the decision is the overall advance of entertainment digitalization: "The biggest being that the digitalization of contents overall has been progressing. That’s the big factor. It’s not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of contents, digitalization is progressing, she said. Lin Tao added that Sony studied the issue for a long time before reaching its conclusion and assured that the company "cautiously move forward" in implementing the new model.

 

 

The executive also acknowledged the criticism received on social media and said Sony understands the attachment some fans have to physical games: "We understand those emotions", she said. According to her, the company is now studying ways to keep players engaged in a fully digital ecosystem: "We want to consider that. And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore", she concluded.