PlayStation fans are organizing a boycott of the platform after it was revealed Sony will no longer produce physical versions of new games from 2028. This effort is the latest attempt by fans to dissuade PlayStation from going through with its plans.
Game ownership has long been a concern for gamers. In most cases, physical media ensures that gamers can still access the game whenever they want and for as long as they want. This also applies if your console is older. Digital games, on the other hand, come with the caveat that gamers don't actually own the game, but rather purchase a license to play, so it can be cancelled. So PlayStation's decision to move to a disc-less future didn't sit well with a lot of fans.
Announces boycott of digital-only future PlayStation
Now a boycott of PlayStation services is being planned in protest of the company's plans to switch to an all-digital format in the future. Does it Play?, which advocates for physical gaming media, shared a plan calling for PlayStation games to be shut down in August. The boycott criticizes Sony's recent decision and calls on gamers to log out or unplug their PlayStation consoles from 7pm local time on August 23rd, while remaining offline until August 30th. The idea is to show Sony how many gamers are unhappy with this decision and force the company to consider how it could potentially impact its bottom line as it moves forward with this plan.
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As mentioned, this is just the latest effort to get Sony to change its mind. Gamers have shared their displeasure with this move on social media across the internet, and a PlayStation disc petition is also active. Sony has remained largely silent on the issue since announcing its decision, which has frustrated opponents of the move. Unfortunately, some industry experts say it's highly unlikely that Sony will reverse course. One person said that even if 500,000 gamers decided to cancel their PS Plus accounts in protest, it wouldn't be enough to make a real dent in Sony's business.
Sony made this decision because it is more profitable to sell licenses for digital games than to produce and ship physical games. Statistics show that 70-80% of game sales are digital now, so many gamers will see no real reason to press Sony on this issue. Those numbers likely only increased after both Xbox and PlayStation released disc-less versions of their consoles this generation and reduced prices.
Some are still calling for Sony to change its mind, but this may be a path the gaming industry has been taking for a long time. The majority of PC gamers now only play digital games thanks to platforms like Steam, and many modern gaming PCs no longer have disk drives. However, purchasing a physical version of a game does not necessarily include a physical copy of the game data. The physical version that includes the download code and the game key card for Nintendo Switch 2 does not include any game files, and the physical components essentially only serve as display pieces or souvenirs. It's likely going to be a long time before Sony actually considers changing its mind on the matter, but some members of the community aren't giving up just yet.
