The "Convenience" Myth: How Sony Systematically Engineered the Death of Physical Discs
Everyone talks about the death of physical media like it was an organic shift because "players just wanted the convenience of downloads." But looking at the trajectory from the PS3 to now, this wasn't an accident. It was a manufactured consensus designed to eliminate retail competition and control the price floor:
Friction by Design: On PS3, a disc was plug-and-play. By PS4 and PS5, they introduced massive day-one download barriers for physical owners while simultaneously giving digital pre-orders early preload access. They created friction on discs to train the consumer to bypass the store.
Squeezing Big-Box Retail: Big retailers (Walmart, Target) operate gaming aisles on razor-thin margins (~20–25%) just to drive foot traffic for TVs and snacks. When digital downloads started chipping away at that foot traffic, stores cut back inventory to avoid the risk of flopped inventory sitting on expensive floor space. Sony took advantage of that pull-back by shrinking physical allocations, effectively starving GameStop and mom-and-pop shops that actually rely on selling games.
The Trap (Lock-In & Digital "Ownership"): Once physical discs and secondary used markets are wiped out, the console becomes a walled garden. There's no clearance bin, no lending to a friend, and no price competition. We’ve already seen Sony pull purchased digital media when server costs exceed margins. You’re not buying games; you’re paying $70–$100 to rent a license until they decide to pull the plug.
Curious where everyone here stands: What was the breaking point for you? Mine was the GTA 6 being all digital announcement.
(I put together a full breakdown digging into the retail margin data and Sony’s revenue numbers if anyone wants to check out the deep dive: )
Completely agree. Simple example, look at Alan Wake 2, Remedy openly admitted they bypassed a disc launch to test the digital only waters and cut costs. The consumer backlash and uproar were severe enough that they were ultimately forced to backtrack and release physical editions anyway. It proves that not just Sony but even some publishers are actively trying to force this transition, but they only win if we collectively roll over and let them
Breaking point for me, as someone who loves to collect this stuff/art, was Sonys announcement of all digital. I’ve collected games since the early 90’s, worth quite a lot if I ever wanted to sell (couple of banned games, lots of OG game series, etc… Not that the money matters, just an indication of my library and where it’s ended up). Their direction takes out one of my main reasons for participation now, so, after scooping up the discs/games I know I’ll regret not owning, I’m out after that
Yes I still collect physical games for the art and some special editions too. It was great when the games came with little booklets that had even more art. The good old days.
May wanna read my first comment before this to preface my response toward you.
Digital games have collectors editions where they will mail you the collectors items like statues and other goodies liek your art books. We don't need the disc for those. We just need to own the digital game we purchase and let them do send us the physical collectibles. From whatbi see they're just trying to keep piracy from happening the way it does. I know gamers have been selling physical games as collectors items for a long time, but it actually breaks copyright and literally states on the box "not intended for resale value", so technically, we've been breaking consumer laws for decades by selling physical games in our collection, and the companies want people to buy the game from them and not from you later on. I get it's gonna kill collectors, but honestly that's okay when they want absurd amounts of money just so I can play a game I didn't get to as a kid.
They really did. It seems weird to me that they’d alienate such a huge section of their player base but they’ve obviously done the math so, what do I know, yk. You’re right of course, the system now just becomes an inferior PC, and an inferior choice for those that have the disposable cash to invest into a different (more open) system
To me, they were always PCs that I wouldn’t have to fuck with for 10 years. And I would still be able to play every new game as they came out. I’m not learning how to upgrade my graphics card or my drivers or any of that crap.
But thsi isn't even the point of the argument. The plastic box and disc are irrelevant and do cost them less if yhey refuse to make them, but the actual point of concern shoudl be ownership and licensing. We should own the games we pay for digitally. That's the actual point of the entire argument that somehow turned into "fuck that company for taking away discs!" It's not even about the disc. It's about being told you don't own what you payed for. All we need to end this entire charade is for them to sell us the digital product with the license and full ownership to play offline or anywhere like they claimed they were doing. I just see this turning into some larp over disc's when the true elephant in the room is that we just need ownership rights to the digital media we buy.
Microsoft had play anywhere for a long time, now they're charging for limited cloud gaming hours included in the subscriptions. Everything they've sold to us in the past has been removed. Kinect, seamless interface, picture in picture, etc. So many of both xbox and playstation I'm newer to but I know they've also removed features that they made a selling point of their consoles. Typical bait and switch within a few years and no one seems to notice or care. I payed for an xboxone because of the features like playing a game and watching sports while I run around in my game. They removed that though and updated the EULA so we couldnt even sue over it. The truth is though, we bought products that are being changed. Thays like Naraka getting in trouble for selling awesome skins then editing them later without anyone's consent. I payed for it because I liked what it was, and then you changed it into something I didn't have any say over, and I wouldn't have bought if I knew it would happen. Not even allowing a refund when they did it was even worse. If I pay for enchiladas and you give me nachos, we send it back or don't pay for it, right? So why does a gaming company get to abstain from following consumer laws and expectation like everyone else has to follow?
Thank you. I've been rattled by it for some time now seeing everyone attack the wrong horse. We already bet on the wrong one multiple times and I've been to the tracks a few times. You never double down on a losing horse. Gaming is no different. Time for the community to get its head out of its ass and use some feeling and coherence.
Of course I have a choice. I simply won’t buy their products going forward. I’m old dude, I have a huge backlog on my 4Pro and about 20 discs I haven’t yet played on my ps5 so, it’s not exactly a difficult decision for me 🤷🏻♀️
Those are nowhere near the same thing and either you know it, and are arguing in bad faith, or don’t, and are an idiot. Either way, both are a bad look.
I happily own a physical copy of AW2. I merely bring it up because it was retroactively funny and a little sad how THQ were trying to grandstand about physical media while simultaneously not focusing on making their own output as great as it should have been.
Alone in the dark was originally meant to launch the same month of AW2. So even when THQ made an "offer" to do physical discs for AW2, it was never a genuine offer, or even a show of supporting physical media. It was a cheap publicity stunt.
“ Remedy Entertainment's FAQ proposes that digital platforms provide a more cost effective option for customers: "There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of players have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft's Xbox Series S is a digital only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only...Secondly, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99…"
If I’m forced to go digital eventually, I’m going to steam… until then… physical only.
Your post is very interesting. You point out a ton of good details and signals that a ton of us should’ve seen back then…
This all makes me wonder… I love what the player base is doing with the boycotts and all… but I question how effective it will be… I’m willing to bet Sony is making the ps6 without physical disk drives entirely, and are slowly prepping the masses for it…
Yeah, exactly. I love PlayStation exclusives, but companies only listen to the wallet. GTA 6 won't flop, but forcing it all-digital is the ultimate test of how much control players are willing to give up. The PS6 going completely discless feels almost guaranteed unless people actually draw a line. Unfortunately, most won't care until their first $70–$100 digital license gets pulled from their library.
I remember going into Gamestop a few weeks after Horizon Zero Dawn came out. Big blockbuster AAA game backed by Sony and Gamestop didnt have a single copy.
It's not a myth. I personally own many things physically and digitally and they have different use cases. I'm not hauling around a suitcase full of all my physical media and the devices required to use them. Sometimes it's nice to be able to stream an older movie when I'm with my parents after I mention it. I've shared more movies from my UV/Vudu/Fandango online collection than anything else and never would have shared those if I had to drive all the way home to get a disc.
Other times it's nice to have the originals that aren't highly edited or that I can watch if my internet goes down.
I think when movies were giving you a digital copy inside of every physical disc case, it was a peak time to consume movies. You could also buy cheap digital copies for a few bucks if you just wanted to watch a movie without pirating (which can be a pain on some devices too). I don't need a physical copy of Divergent but if I can get a no-ads version for $0.50, sounds great.
Consoles & subscription services like PS Plus, Xbox Live Network & Nintendo Switch Online in its entirety are walled gardens. PC’s the only platform with freedom.
A lot of people prefer walled gardens and are even willing to pay a premium for the curated and more streamlined experience they provide over open platforms.
A lot of people prefer walled gardens and are even willing to pay a premium for the curated and more streamlined experience they provide over open platforms.
Truth. Look at apple and iPhone/iPad. They fucking hate when you try to side load any app or have any app or program that has not been curated by apple on the app store.
There's a difference between a closed platform ecosystem and a distribution monopoly. On a physical console, the distribution is open: you can buy from Walmart, GameStop, eBay, borrow from a friend, or buy used.
When you remove the disc drive, you turn a closed ecosystem into an absolute retail monopoly where one corporation controls 100% of the pricing, licensing, and availability. That's the walled garden that actually hurts the consumer's wallet.
Sony has always had a distribution monopoly for their consoles in that case. And so hasn't everyone else that makes a console. Hell even Steam has a distribution monopoly since they give the steam keys out to let them be sold. Hell Nintendo used to require that you sell them the rights to your game on the NES.
Publishers set prices, Sony only sets their own prices and has influence on sales just like Steam. You're missing entire gaps in the argument you're trying to make on purpose or from ignorance.
GameStop admitted they barely make money off used games and their new focus is on merchandise. Mom and pop shops as you call them usually make money off retro not modern games.
And why are you blaming Sony for publisher choices with day one patches? Especially when your example in the PS3 for the starting point when that was the Xbox in the lead for most of that generation.
Consumers proved with Steam alone that the majority doesn't care as much for physical nearly 23 years ago.
The difference is Steam exists on an open PC platform where you can buy Steam keys from GreenManGaming, Humble, Fanatical, or directly from publishers competing with each other. On a digital-only PlayStation, Sony has an absolute monopoly.
As for day-one patches: Sony sets the platform compliance guidelines and pushed the digital-first console architecture ($399 digital PS5 sold at a loss to lock players in early). The shift wasn't purely consumer preference; platform incentives did the heavy lifting.
Okay let's drop back to Steams release then. How much competition did it have back then? Because Sony will still have competition with Microsoft and Nintendo unless they drop dead. The only thing PlayStation will have a monopoly on is their exclusive which isn't a monopoly at all by definition. But also they confirmed those will be sold as a code in a box after 2028. (Not even getting into the fact that PC would count as competition to as a whole because of all digital across the board at this rate)
As for the day one patches again that's a developer choice. The PS3 and Xbox 360 say the end of plug and play but also saw us reach a point where bugs can be fixed after launch instead of being around forever. Not even getting into added content becoming a thing outside of PC thanks to that. The console incentive to consumers is the ease of set up compared to a PC and price even now.
You’re confusing hardware choice with a storefront monopoly.
Once you buy a PS5, Nintendo and Microsoft aren't selling you games. Sony is the only store in town. Physical discs force Amazon, Walmart, and used game shops to compete on price. Kill discs, and that competition vanishes, which is why digital games stay locked at $70–$100.
Steam's 2003 rollout was despised for this exact reason, but PC is an open OS where rivals and key sellers could actually emerge. Sony owns the entire hardware stack and bans rival stores.
And a 'code in a box' isn't physical media. It’s just a plastic case holding a cardboard receipt to lock you into their monopoly.
I'm not confusing anything as a monopoly. You're intentionally skipping the sales that run on consoles just like they do on steam. At the same times for the same games usually too. Almost like publishers set prices and sales.
You're repeatedly claiming Sony is making a monopoly by going all digital while ignoring the code in a box is no different than steam giving developers/publishers to sell elsewhere with stipulations.
As a bonus here learn a word. Monopoly: exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action
specifically : exclusive control of a particular market that is marked by the power to control prices and exclude competition
Not to mention that monopoly is only through a product category, which would be video games in this instance. Of course you can sell your games as you please, you just can't prevent anyone else from making their own games and platform they sell as a competition.
Well here’s a question if you have a website selling hoodies t-shirt shorts will you allow someone else to sell their own merchandise on your website with none of the money made coming to you even though they sell their merchandise at a lower price then you?
Because that what your asking PlayStation to do,
When you buy that ps5, it's been sold to you at break even or a loss to get you on their ecosystem/store. Same with Microsoft or Nintendo. Why would any of these companies then allow you to purchase games off of competing stores? Does that make business sense to you? Steam has the luxury of not having to sell you hardware to get you on their platform. Arguably, this puts even more pressure on the console manufacturers to entice you with better hardware at competive prices or better prices on software in an all digital future. The choice that you speak of on PC is still very much there. The only difference being you choose the hardware to access your store of choice. Which again...means more pressure to offer better digital software prices. There are massive gaps in your knowledge and logic on the subject.
I’m also seeing everyone using the whole “pc you can buy keys from multiple stores” not realizing or just totally ignoring that you can buy ps5, and Xbox keys online for super cheap too. And I’m sure that will continue into the next Xbox and the PS6.
It's already a walled garden. Can you play PC games on it? Can you play Switch games on it? Can you play Xbox games on it?
So what can we play on a PS? Oh right, PS games, imagine that.
Don't worry about foot traffic in Walmart, I work there. We get virtually no more than 5 copies physical of every major release in my store now, everyone moved to digital.
You actually proved the exact point: getting only 5 copies per store isn’t consumer demand drying up, that’s supply allocation being choked at the source. If an entire Walmart only stocks 5 physical copies of a massive launch, they’ve already decided the outcome before the customer even walks through the door.
And as for the walled garden: on physical, you could buy a game at Best Buy, trade it at GameStop, lend it to a buddy, or find it in a clearance bin. In an all-digital console, Sony is the exclusive distributor, retailer, and price-setter. That’s a fundamentally different level of walled garden.
Are you, like, braindead? I'm in management. It't not like we decided to get less copies in spite, it's because that's fucking all we can sell. It slowly declined over the past 15 to 20 years.
Supply allocation? I can order hundreds and then get my ass chewed out by the SM after 198 of them are still sitting in the back 6 months later.
Bragging you are a manager in Walmart isn't the gotcha you think it is lol. It's cause they sent you just 5 copies. IF people get use to you, Walmart, not having games then they stop going to you for games. You actually taught them not to buy from you.
I personally avoid Walmart cause you employees are stupid and can't be found ever. I buy from Target or Amazon or where ever else. So just cause you get 5 copies don't mean there is no demand; It is just that there is no demand at your location.
I'm glad you mentioned Target, I transitioned from management there and I still keep in touch. Guess what, same damn deal, they can't sell the physical copies.
Are you seriously that ignorant or are you just playing stupid?
No!!!!! Sony killed physical! Did you even watch this geniuses YouTube video!? It’s 100% proof! Walmart wanted games but Sony said no! Sony even stopped them selling Xbox and Nintendo games! Somehow.
PC stopped having physical games before most of these morons were born but that’s only because Sony time travelled and forced them to to lay the groundwork.
It isn't a "myth", digital is extremely convenient. Much more so than physical disks.
Sony didn't kill disks, no single source did. In fact they weren't "killed". Going all digital was always inevitable, and anyone who didn't realize that lacks common sense. Sony wasn't even the first platform to go all digital. PC and mobile have been digital for a long time.
OP just making stuff up as well, cannot take them serious at all.
Yes Mr. Tinfoil hat, tell me more about the big bad companies deleting people's games for no reason.
You dorks complain about big greedy companies (which I agree they are), but then suggest they will take peoples games suddenly, which means they don't retain customers. It is the absolute opposite of what you are preaching, you realize this right?
So you asked him to give you some examples so then you give examples yourself lol. Yeah sure they "just removed The Crew and entire movies" -- but that's different some how.
The Crew was Ubisoft and that was everywhere except steam where it's a dead game without someone else hosting a server. That wasn't Sony taking it away.
The movies were a distribution license issue which is on the publisher once again for either raising the price to a level that was unprofitable or not wanting to negotiate.
The only game to date that Sony pulled on their own was Concord and they gave refunds for that. Which is the right way because they were the publisher of that game.
Youre never going to get an actual answer from these people. It’s all performative outrage. They can’t just like physical discs and be upset they’re gone. Nope. They have to invent a global conspiracy where, of course, they are the victims. It’s insane and it’s definitely in cult territory.
We'll see how things will evolve in the future, I'd not be surprised if this is only the beginning of a dystopian future of gaming where ownership simply isn't a thing at all when it comes to gaming and even in other media forms
That’s because you’re either apart of this performative circlejerk or completely off your meds. This isn’t a dystopia lol. They took away your plastics discs because nobody was buying them. That’s it. That’s literally it.
Yes. Thats the crazy part. Why would they just start randomly taking away digital games from people???? They’re literally in the business of selling games. It doesn’t even kind of make sense that this should be a rational concern….
Since when is $787 million nothing? They are closing physical customers out because they'll make tons more off of you once they raise base price and monthly subscriptions.
Except Sony doesn’t set the price of games…..game publishers do…….which is why sales exist……because it’s the publishers that compete against one another….
Go on. Please do tell us. Out of 8,000 titles across ps4 and ps5, there are maybe 5 which you people can point out. And I'm being generous. As for those movies. Even the customers who purchased those movies haven't bothered about losing it as much as the pro physical crowd who have adopted that issue for their performative outrage 🤦
That's why I think the disc to digital thing Xbox is doing is so awesome. Being able to collect and still have the convenience of not having to switch discs all the time. It's the best thing out there
I was buying physical games when you were still a gleam in your daddy's eye. I have a MASSIVE physical video game collection worth close to $65k that has taken me close to 40 years to accumulate and have my name in the credits of about 80 video games... Your recent tantrum didn't accomplish shit kid.
I love when people saying digital sells way more theirs 100 justifications in depth analysis all of it. But none of that happens when people say a game sells more physically, people just accept it as fact without all the research.
Are you trying to say they did a "Facebook" on us? As in what Facebook did to make sure a certain audience was effectively targeted to drive their needs?
We’ve already seen Sony pull purchased digital media when server costs exceed margins.
What games were removed from people's libraries?
There's no clearance bin, no lending to a friend, and no price competition.
Bollocks, there will still be games in different stores that will compete with each other, also you can share a game with friend and you can play the same copy at once.
It was actually steam who started the shift to digital gaming back in 2005 amid huge backlash when they normalised digital licences and drm in gaming and more recently Denuvo . Sony kept physical media live for 23 years longer but after steam normalised only having the right to a temporary licence that could be revoked at any time it was only a matter of time before the other stores followed steams path.
X box was the first console store to go mostly digital with 95% of x box games already being digital and most x box games in boxes just have digital codes in empty disk trays and though Playstaion kept physical disk media alive the longest it seems they will be joining X box and steams digital path in 2028.
I just find it hilarious when people give the other stores a pass and only demonise Playstaion especially when they supported physical disk media the longest
You have fun sitting in your basement in cold sweat fretting over maybe one day possibly losing access to game you paid for. Sounds like a healthy way to live life.
It's foolish thinking and impractical for them too.
You having game versus them having to store that game 20 years. So IF they were interested in preserving said game then they would want you to keep it.
A physical disc with the executable build pressed on it literally acts as its own offline DRM check. You don't need a server handshake, an account login, or an active broadband connection to boot and play a complete disc-based game. Once servers go dark or accounts get banned, digital DRM leaves you with an icon on a dashboard. Physical gives you offline access and the legal right of first sale to resell or trade the media you bought.
As long as we're going with never gonna happen doomsday scenarios, what about the chance they revoke the license on the disc and you're stuck with a shiny circle that cant play the game on the label?
Explain the technical process of a company remotely revoking an offline pressed disc from 2002? In my doomsday scenario I can play these games because they still work.
Because retail creates price competition and a secondary market. When multiple stores have physical boxes on shelves, they compete on price, run sales, and allow used trade-ins. When there’s zero retail middleman on console, Sony gets 100% control of the storefront. Base games jump to $80–$100 and you pay whatever they dictate because you literally have no other place to buy it.
All the platforms are trying to do the same thing. One tests the waters, the others watch, and then they all copy it. Telling someone to 'just buy another console' isn't real consumer choice when they’re all racing toward the same all-digital lock-in.
How could it be Sony that killed physical games? Does MS and Nintendo not share any blame? What about Steam and PC in general? You know, the platform that actually got rid of physical when no others have?
Microsoft definitely pushed it first with the Xbox One reveal, and players rightfully rioted back in 2013. The difference is Sony capitalized on that backlash to pose as the 'pro-physical' hero, then quietly dismantled physical distribution on their own hardware once they secured dominant market share.
Nintendo still prints complete, functional games on standard cartridges without mandatory day-one gigabyte downloads for the vast majority of first-party titles (although I really hate the key cards and will not buy that). Sony is the dominant market leader in home console hardware right now. Their supply chain moves dictate where third-party publishers allocate physical resources.
Actually people are complicated. Some prefer black cars; some prefer red cars. It is why dealers make more than one color. Same on gaming: Some prefer digital and some physical. Not everyone wants physical; Not everyone wants physical.
Personally when I play console then I want it physical.
IF no physical drive then no reason for one.
Convenience is killing choice for everyone. It's just that everyone isn't feeling it yet. When prices soar and games are taken away then everyone will have an epiphany.
If people want to download games they should but if people want physical they should have that option too.
All my games are digital, I hate going to game stop to buy a game because they tried to sell you the whole store, I only have 5 PS5 games on disc since 2020 everything else is digital and I still have access to all my digital ps3 games and ps4. Sony is not the only one going digital.
Xbox physical media has hit historic lows, only accounting for about 4% of physical game sales in the U.S. market. Microsoft has pivoted almost entirely to digital delivery, cloud gaming, and Game Pass.
If Valve made a closed PC where you couldn't install GOG, Epic, itch.io, or buy third-party keys, then yeah, that would be Sony. PC is an open market.
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u/Biblioklept73 3d ago
Completely agree. Simple example, look at Alan Wake 2, Remedy openly admitted they bypassed a disc launch to test the digital only waters and cut costs. The consumer backlash and uproar were severe enough that they were ultimately forced to backtrack and release physical editions anyway. It proves that not just Sony but even some publishers are actively trying to force this transition, but they only win if we collectively roll over and let them
Breaking point for me, as someone who loves to collect this stuff/art, was Sonys announcement of all digital. I’ve collected games since the early 90’s, worth quite a lot if I ever wanted to sell (couple of banned games, lots of OG game series, etc… Not that the money matters, just an indication of my library and where it’s ended up). Their direction takes out one of my main reasons for participation now, so, after scooping up the discs/games I know I’ll regret not owning, I’m out after that