Earlier this week, Sony announced plans to discontinue production of physical discs for new PlayStation games launching from January 2028.
After that, games will be sold only in digital format, while titles released on disc before January 2028 will not be affected.
Sony has reportedly begun repurposing its last physical disc factory. Workers at the Austrian plant are being retrained to manufacture optical microlenses for power-consumption applications.
The platform holder also revealed it would be closing down the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita by July 2027, meaning that new content purchases will no longer be possible once these stores close.
Sony’s shift to an all-digital model has raised concerns among developers and publishers who consider physical media essential to the gaming ecosystem and its consumers.
To understand the impact of ending physical disc production, we collected responses from game companies about the implications for creators, collectors, and game preservation.
Iam8bit
Iam8bit produces premium collector’s editions of physical games, including the recent Blue Prince Commissary Bundle for PS5 and an exclusive PS5 edition of Fear the Spotlight with unique cover and disc art.
In a statement sent to GamesIndustry.biz, Iam8bit co-owners and co-creative directors Jon Gibson and Amanda White said:
“We are profoundly disappointed by Sony’s decision to suspend physical games production in 2028. Physical games are vital to games preservation, ownership, and consumer choice, values that have guided iam8bit since our first physical release in 2016. Our commitment to these values remains unchanged. Long live physical media.”
Atari
Atari is known for its physical game releases. Its subsidiary, Digital Eclipse, recently announced a deluxe physical version of Barbie Rewind for PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 that comes with a Barbie doll.
Atari also released collector’s editions of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind and The Thing: Remastered, featuring steelbooks and additional physical items.
“We remain committed to game preservation and creating products for fans for whom collecting physical editions is an important part of their gaming experience, along with physical items that allow them to celebrate their favourite games,” the firm told GamesIndustry.biz.
“We strive to make the games we develop and publish as accessible as possible, which includes distributing physical editions whenever feasible. As the market evolves, we’ll continue to explore new and compelling ways to satisfy collector demand.”
Silver Lining Interactive
Manchester-based Silver Lining Interactive often issues physical versions of its games after digital release. Founder Luke Keighran describes this as a highly profitable part of the business.
“We do not only have a very, very strong retail market, but a wholesale market as well,” he told us earlier this year. “Day-one purchases are becoming more difficult for retail, but the catalogue business is still extremely strong. If a game does well on digital, it will normally do well at retail.”
In a statement shared to LinkedIn, the company said it was “obviously disappointed by the news” and highlighted that “there is still a large community of customers who prefer and cherish their physical game collections.”
“We are working with PlayStation to understand exactly how this transition will be implemented and what it means for independent publishers. While we seek clarity on the future, we want to offer absolute certainty about the present: this policy will not impact our existing library.
“The industry landscape is still settling after this announcement, but whatever form the future takes, Silver Lining Interactive is committed to both our developer partners and our players. We will keep physical media available for as long as players want it.
It concluded: “We firmly believe in giving our community a choice wherever viable, and will continue working hard to deliver games in both digital formats and physical boxes, whether that means a disc, a cartridge, a key card, or a code-in-box release. It is time for us to put our ‘creative hats’ on to see how we can continue bringing games to physical.”
Lost in Cult
Lost in Cult publishes high-quality, art-focused video game books and physical editions of indie games. The company also runs a label for curated indie games that can be played offline on PS5 and Switch.
The company has released physical editions of Paper Trial, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, Thank Goodness You’re Here, and Immortality, among others.
“As a company on a mission to preserve video games, we are deeply saddened by the recent news from PlayStation on ending physical disc production from 2028,” it said in a statement.
“We aim to do everything in our power to preserve video games to the best of our ability and will continue to do so for as long as we can.”
Limited Run Games
Limited Run Games works with developers to make physical collector’s editions and merchandise. Its latest release, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for Switch 2, comes with physical items, a soundtrack CD, and a steelbook.
“Sony’s decision to move fully digital marks the end of an era, and we understand why the math points that way for a platform holder at that scale,” it said in a post on its website.
“We have spent a decade, alongside the fans and collectors who kept this flame alive long before us, proving that people still want to hold their games, to own them outright, and to keep them on a shelf for good. We are not slowing down either.”
Strictly Limited
Strictly Limited publishes physical standard, deluxe, and collector’s editions of digital titles across platforms.
In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Strictly Limited’s head of business unit Sascha Hoffmann-Nowak said physical editions are “highly relevant when it comes to ensuring players’ ownership and preserving video games as part of our cultural heritage.”
“We’ll continue releasing physical PS5 games for as long as it’s possible and will continue publishing physical editions of games regardless of the platform they appear on, even if those platforms evolve. We do have a different approach to physical editions for such releases in place.”
Video Game History Foundation
From a preservation perspective, Frank Cifaldi, director of the Video Game History Foundation, said, “museums and archives have been preparing for this future for a while.”
“From the perspective of professional preservationists, this doesn’t have as much of an impact as you might expect,” said Cifaldi.
“The reality is that the vast majority of video games produced over the last two decades were not made for dedicated home video game consoles, let alone pressed to physical media. And even when they were released on physical media, a day-one digital patch was all but guaranteed, meaning that even though a disc is preserving data in an accessible way, it may not represent the game that people actually played.”
“The vast majority of video games produced over the last two decades were not made for dedicated home video game consoles”
Frank Cifaldi
Cifaldi added: “What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it. If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we’d also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research.
“Everyone agrees this is a serious problem, but the ESA has repeatedly opposed the efforts of cultural heritage institutions to reform digital copy protection laws to make it easier to do this work. The industry needs to meaningfully come to the table on this issue, because asking museums to download a copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 and hope that it’ll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution.”
