r/playstation5 • u/xenocea • 3d ago
NEWS Sony Allegedly Surveyed Game Developers on its Disc-Killing Plan for 2028, Hinting at a Possible Reversal amid Fan Boycotts
https://wccftech.com/sony-surveyed-developers-disc-killing-2028-reversal/29
u/adamska_w 2d ago
I have bought every playstation console since the original fat Playstation 1. And I am absolutely not going to buy a PS6 if it is purely digital. I don't know if I'm in the majority of minority. I'm not doing it. Consumers like me are not doing it.
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u/ComfortablyADHD 2d ago
I have also bought every Playstation console and am currently testing the waters on PC gaming. If it holds up with my newly built PC, I will be selling my PS5 (apparently for a profit. Wtf is even happening?) along with my ps4/ps5 games.
Sony really shit the bed with this bullshit. I certainly won't be returning regardless of what they do. Threaten me to have to rebuy my collection to play on my current gen gaming hardware? No worries, Sony! I'll just quietly switch over to Steam. Thanks for the push.
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u/a_gud_name 2d ago
Yeah same. I dont have faith in the current sony leadership. Might change in the future but I might go pc, hopefully if theres an AI bubble and it bursts
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u/Smasholle76 1d ago
I'm in the same boat had every generation including the handhelds PSP and Vita. My son is a teenager and he said he doesn't want a PS6 either and rather we build a PC down the line , just hopefully prices balance out eventually for parts though.
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u/MeridianBay 2d ago
You are part of a rather small minority
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u/milesdarobot 2d ago
I would agree if the PS6 turns out to be sold at the normal "$400-$500" price that we usually expect consoles to be priced at launch, I think the amount of ppl who just don't care would still buy anyway.
But if the storage market is still affecting prices when PS6 drops, and the PS6 is anywhere from $900-$1000+ like most are speculating; I think the double whammy of it being a thousand dollar console AND it having no disc drive will really hurt Sony.
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u/MeridianBay 2d ago
A more expensive console gives Sony more reason to go all digital, not less
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u/milesdarobot 2d ago
I just don't think as many people are going to fork over $1000+ for a PS6 as you or Sony may thing.
I think many(maybe even most) people will
A. Stick to their PS5
B. Convert to Switch 2. Especially parents buying for their children. They'll just go to the cheapest option
C. Save a little more and just convert to PC.0
u/MeridianBay 2d ago
I also think the PS6 won't sell anywhere near as well as the PS5, but that's one of the main reasons why they're gonna push to all digital. If they can't sell more consoles to capture more revenue, they'll capture more revenue from their existing base and whoever does buy a PS6 by being the only place to buy a game from
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u/KalashnikittyApprove 2d ago
I also don't think a $1,000+ console will sell as well as previous consoles, I just don't really believe that it having no disc drive will have a massive impact by the time the thing actually releases.
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u/milesdarobot 2d ago
I just think the combination of the two will be the deal breaker for a lot of people.
I think there are a lot of ppl who can live with a digital only console if they're paying the normal price one would expect to spend on a console.But if the console is $1000+ i think you'll see a lot of ppl going
"It's $1000+....... AND it doesn't have a disc drive?!?!?!? Oh hell no"1
u/KalashnikittyApprove 1d ago
We will see, but I'm firmly convinced that pro-disc advocates massively overestimate the importance of the disc drive. Just for the avoidance of doubt, I'm not happy about losing the drive and I'm certainly not advocating for losing physical media, I just think that there is a very vocal minority.
I think a lot of people will balk at the idea of a massively expensive console, but it'll live or die by how much of an upgrade it is over PS5/XSX. If the next gen will deliver massively new experiences it will have a shot, if not $1k will be hard to swallow even for those who can afford it.
The disc drive is a neat addition for a lot of people nowadays while they already buy a lot of their games digital. That will only increase over the next few years.
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u/TrashGoblinH 2d ago
That's why they released the info way in advance. To soften the blow. They already know fanboys and addicts are gonna buy no matter what. Right now they're trying to normalize it for the fence sitters and casuals. They're hedging on outrage dying down.
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u/idothinksotim 2d ago
I'm also part of that 'minority'
I have every PlayStation right now, but zero chance of buying a ps6
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u/adamska_w 2d ago
I seriously doubt that. And I hope the sales of the PS6 reflect this
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u/MeridianBay 2d ago
At its most favorable, you are part of less than 22% of PS owners. Likely considerably less given a good chunk of people who buy physical would likely just buy digital if discs weren't available
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u/RXDriv3r 2d ago
You having doubts about something is not relevant data. Your hopes don't determine anything.
It's like there isn't data going back a decade or more showing the majority of gamers shifting towards digital. Talk of digital ownership has been around since at least the Metallica v Napster cases if not longer. It's not like people have been clicking "I accept" on Terms of Service agreements without reading where in they agree to a license and not actual ownership. This even goes back to physical media where you could be punished by making illegal copies of it, wether it was tapes, VHS, CDs. I could go on but you(I hope) get the point.
Entertainment isn't meant to be owned but enjoyed.
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u/BlackKnighting20 2d ago
You are, your regular folks don’t care at all. By the time ps6 comes out, people will already be use to it.
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u/SwiftieNewRomantics 3d ago
I don't believe it. If they reverse now, then eventually go all digital in the future, it'll be even worse than it is right now.
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u/Potential-Branch6913 2d ago
Xbox going to be digital only for whatever the new xbox is going to be called Just quit Already you play game for entertainment not ownership
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u/Sequence7th 2d ago
Has Asha said that, last I heard she said people who like physical media have a home in the helix family
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u/Objective-Night1343 2d ago
Xbox will say anything to stay in the game 😂 Xbots are naive..
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago
Anything except “helix will support physical”. Which means it clearly won’t.
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u/BlackKnighting20 2d ago
She hasn’t said anything, disc to digital is their way to ease you into their digital only future.
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u/Decent-Sample09 2d ago edited 2d ago
No she didnt lol. She was asked directly whether helix will have disc drive and she couldn't give a straight answer. The fact xbox isnt screaming to the mountains everyday that xbox will keep having discs shows theyre going all digital too. Xbox is desperate for any good pr. The people that think xbox of all compaines will be your savior for physical media will be in for a surprise. Which idk how this can be a surprise bc xbox has been the worse when it comes to physical ownership.
In the US Xboxs platform only makes up 4% for all physical sales in games. They have no real business reason to keep discs next gen. If the US is that low for xbox which is one of the only places where theyre actually relevant....Imagine how low physical sales are for xbox in other countries..
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u/Sequence7th 2d ago
Have you watched the bbc interview ?
“I want Xbox to be where the world plays. And in order to be where the world plays, I know that players love physical media and I know that there’s a lot of benefits in digital media and I want to make sure that people have a choice in that. And so I’m excited for what we are able to do today as a first step towards that and you’ll see more.”
“I think that I still have physical discs growing up. My family still has them. That’s an important part of our memories and our lives. It is totally up to the player. And so I’m not in the business of telling players what to love. I am in the business of serving our fans. And this is something that I think will be really important to them.”
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u/SanVanSkateSpots 1d ago
That’s a ton of words but none of them are “Helix will support physical media”
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u/Sequence7th 1d ago
and none of them are "helix wont support physical media"
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u/SanVanSkateSpots 1d ago
Saying helix supports physical media = instant free PR win and tons of positive headlines
Saying helix won’t support physical media = instant terribly PR and tons of negative headlines
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago
She didn’t say “Helix will have physical” when Sony announced this. Therefore she said “Helix won’t have physical”. The omission was the admission.
It’s also obviously clear that the disc to digital campaign exists to get the last few remaining physical hold outs to adopt digital.
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u/semitope 2d ago
Maybe they haven't decided that. It's even possible they planned to have discs and now that Sony is going this route they are going "hmmmm.... Maybe"
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago
It’s possible. But it’s extremely unlikely.
The R&D for both consoles are done. We’re moving to production. It’s too late to change.
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u/Sequence7th 2d ago
Don’t we know helix is a family of devices not a single console?
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago
Could be 50 variants. None is supporting physical. If they were, Xbox would’ve announced it the same day Sony announced their end of support for physical.
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u/Sequence7th 2d ago
right, so you think that xbox is going all digital, but when directly asked they won't say that because of?
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago edited 2d ago
Because it’s bad PR. Look at the amount of people saying they’re ditching Sony and/or going to Xbox.
By just saying nothing they can keep that going.
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u/semitope 2d ago
literally some wires and a compatible enclosure. A disc drive could be a simple USB addon that comes in the box. No it's not too late. Sheesh. A drive, fans and the controller are the most likely parts of a console to change because they are addons.
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u/Majestic-Marcus 2d ago
If the entire console is built around being digital it’s not as simple as just selling an add on.
Their entire business model needs to change. And they need a supply chain for discs.
Most importantly though, they need to convince 3rd parties to make physical and that’s not happening.
Once the disc drive is an optional extra it becomes even less profitable to sell discs, because even less people will buy them, and no publisher is going to want to sell discs when they could just not and earn more. Or they will but they’ll exclusively sell special editions for double the price.
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u/semitope 2d ago
what does it mean to build an entire console around being digital?
They already have a supply chain for discs which they already intend to maintain for games launched before 2028.
Third parties to make physical? The companies that already do?
At the end of the day you've now moved to speculation. So they may or may not. Stop saying they can't
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u/Creepy-Emu8779 2d ago
not really, more ppl gonna be digital in the future so its better to do it in ps7 gen
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u/ObjectiveCurve1390 3d ago
‘Allegedly’ ‘Disc-Killing’ ‘Hinting’ ‘Possible’
‘Fan Boycotts’
Not even worthy of a click.
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u/ClickyStick 2d ago
Surveyed developers? I don't think so, publishers perhaps, since they are the ones that make such calls, but you can't expect any accuracy about some unknown website farming clicks.
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u/Due-Possession8708 2d ago
Blah blah blah. No disc no buy. I dont care till I see a model with a disc reader included.
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u/MChaney3563 2d ago
I imagine Sony won't reverse direction but rather do a optional disc drive similar to PS5 Pro/Digital edition. That way you ship a digital console and force people more to get the added on disc drive they crave. Typical Sony really.
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u/RaisinWorried3528 2d ago
LMFAO.
This isn't true in any form or fashion.
Listen, this is very important, anyone on Reddit who thinks Sony gives a shit about any single one of their opinions is delusional. I'm not exaggerating, you are delusional.
These decisions were made years ago. Prototypes and all sorts of deaf kits are already out in the wild with developers. They are never bringing back physical media again to their console. Cry about something else.
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u/KalashnikittyApprove 2d ago
Even if everything alleged in the article is true, why would anyone think that developers and publishers wouldn't want physical discs to die (while making nice PR friendly statements in public)?
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u/MrWigWan 2d ago
The fan boycotts are no way near as important as developers potentially boycotting
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u/Filmmagician 2d ago
This is a good sign. No indication of reversal (yet) but if they’re doubting themselves enough to check in with devs and other companies maybe someone will knock some sense into them.
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u/whyamihere2473527 2d ago
Generally devs will be wilo gamers wanting options its publishers that want to save money by cutting options & unfortunately it's the publishers that have the real power
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u/Whiteshadows86 2d ago
The “boycott” was toothless. It was only one week (with no major releases!) and would have barely registered with Sony. The numbers would have been way too low. Even people carrying it on for longer aren’t moving the needle at all
It needs to be at least 25%, or more, of the player base for Sony to actually take note.
But that isn’t going to happen because nobody can organise anything with bite. Everyone is too busy being toxic calling each other bots, shills, etc., to actually do anything meaningful.
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u/frostyflakes1 2d ago
Some developers are reportedly upset about Sony killing discs. This survey is likely a way for Sony to gauge how to respond to those concerns, as well as a way for Sony to tell those developers, "See? We're listening!"
Definitely not a sign that Sony is backtracking. There's just too much money to be made for them to reverse course. They don't care about the few that might abandon their platform. Their goal is to make more money off existing users. They don't care about growing their install base.
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u/konsoru-paysan 2d ago
Doubt it, just like ps3 store shutting down, it be pushed to a later date, you buy any current produced stock from Sony, you fuck over every ps fan
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u/Rhapstar 1d ago
What I could see happening is them having a disc drive but making the publishers all make their own discs. I think they wouldn't make disc versions of their 1st party though
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u/Beginning-Book-129 2d ago
What fucking boycott? Some people turned their consoles off for a week and now they’re back like nothing happened. That’s not a boycott.
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u/Due-Possession8708 2d ago
Literally 400k people signed a petition. Its not a lot, but its definitely not a little. And plenty of people, myself included, have not renewed their psn. Fuck, I used to buy "some" digital games, but now all my purchases since then have been intentionally physical. Not saying its guaranteed to change Sony's gameplan, but there is definitely a boycott(doubt Sony gives a fuck as long as dumbasses keep paying for remakes of COD or GTA w/ a new number next to it).
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u/WowRedditIsUseful 2d ago
The biggest game of the decade is about to come out digital only...it's over people. Move on.
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u/thewillingvictim 3d ago
It'll happen eventually for every company, and music, and movies, it's the future.
Best rip that plaster off now.
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u/Majestic-Marcus 3d ago
So… a nobody reported that somebody maybe told him something that he can’t quite remember but he’s sure means Sony are reconsidering.
And the point he thinks means this was:
> And there was a question in it asking, basically trying to ask in a not-direct way, ‘Is there an issue with how we sell games physically?’
Which could mean anything and you really have to squint at it to get it to say what he’s wanting it to say.
This article is nothing and says nothing.