PS5 fans are in total shock over Sony putting an end to physical game releases

In 2013, executives at PlayStation mocked Microsoft’s decision to limit digital game sharing on the Xbox One. Now, 13 years later, Sony has just announced that it would cease production of physical PlayStation games starting in 2028. Fans revisiting the jokey video can’t help but fixate on the irony of it all in 2026. The company that once boasted about embracing physical games is now doing away with them altogether.

“I KNEW this would eventually age poorly,” reads a new top-voted comment on the old video.

“When you live long enough to become the villain,” another wrote.

Despite the humor, PlayStation and video game fans alike are responding to the news with a mix of anger, disbelief, and concern. Sony recently reported that 85% of its fourth quarter PlayStation 5 game sales are digital, a statistic that backs up the idea that a digital-only future reflects customer preferences. The timing of the announcement couldn’t have been worse, however.

The last year has been a non-stop torrent of bad news for gamers. Some of that news has little to do with Sony: the gaming industry as a whole is arguably in the middle of an existential crisis. However, some of those bad tidings, like massive layoffs at Bungie and the shuttering of Destiny 2 updates, can’t be untangled from Sony.

Pulling back further, fans are dealing with increased prices thanks to component shortages driven by AI demand. Consoles like the PS5 have seen multiple price increases — and there may be more ahead. Storage for games now costs more than consoles did a few years ago. Prices for games aren’t necessarily going up, but GTA 6 might’ve helped mainstream acceptance for $100 games (or at least more expensive ones). And a month ago, Sony announced that the pricing for its gaming subscription service was going up.

Video game fans are repeatedly being squeezed for more money, but the medium’s increasing reliance on digital sales means that hobbyists own less than ever.

“This is a sad day,” one PS5 fan wrote on the console’s subreddit. “I don’t care if you collect physical games or not.”

“Pray you never get banned,” another wrote. “There goes your library.”

Sony’s announcement has also coincided with the news that the publisher will soon close the PlayStation store for the PS3 and PS Vita. Consumers are being forced to shift to digital games while also being reminded of why such business decisions can be disastrous in the long term as well. The stores were active well past the lifespan of their respective hardware, but once they go down, fans won’t have an easy way to get those games. It’s a preservation nightmare.

“You’re putting a finite existence on gaming, subject to the whims and maintenance of a single corporate entity,” one fan wrote on the PlayStation blog post. “I hope you realize what a terrible decision this is. Especially with the growing global prices of memory.”

Retail workers aren’t feeling optimistic right now, either. One of the most popular threads right now in the GameStop subreddit is about Sony’s announcement. The post is titled, “So is Gamestop doomed?”

Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Meanwhile, Sony’s official blog post has 3,400 comments on it. They are all negative. Some fans were upset enough to threaten that they would no longer support Sony’s gaming products.

“I will never buy another Playstation,” one comment reads.

“Well, im not buying PS6 then,” another says.

It’s a huge shift from fan sentiment from a week ago, when players were proudly declaring that they were buying PS5s in preparation for GTA 6.

According to Sony, PS5 game sales have been flat for a while now. Thanks to increased costs, sales of new gaming consoles have reached a 25-year low. Earlier this year, Sony signaled that the company wanted to eke out more profits from its digital sales. Five years before that, the company surprised the world by releasing a PS5 model without a disc drive. The recent news is consistent with a larger business shift that’s been a long time coming for Sony, but that doesn’t make it easier for fans to swallow.