PS5 digital-only petition hits 100,000 as Sony allows some game discs after 2028

PS5 games by PlayStation are seen for sale at a GameStop in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 7, 2021.
This sight will soon be a thing of the past (Credits: REUTERS)

Publishers will be allowed to sell new game discs after next year but only for games that are already out, as Sony double down on its all-digital approach.

Considering how common U-turns are in the games industry, many fans hoped that Sony could be talked out of its decision to stop production of game discs after next year. Unfortunately, that looks increasingly unlikely, as not has Sony already repurposed its main disc-making factory, but it’s given more detail on how exactly the move to digital-only will work.

Sony manufacturers all the discs for PlayStation consoles, whether they’re games published by them or not, so even if other companies wanted to produce their own discs there’s no easy way to do so – and it’s almost certainly prohibited by their licensing arrangement with Sony.

However, technically Sony will still allow some new game discs to be pressed after January 2028. That’s not a U-turn though, as the catch is that it has to be for games that have already been released.

What limits Sony will place on manufacturing new copies of existing games is unclear, but it’s not likely to be an offer publishers will be all that interested in. Perhaps companies releasing big-name titles near the end of the deadline, like next year’s Call Of Duty and EA Sports FC 28, may take Sony up on their offer but that’s likely to be it.

It’s still unclear if Sony will make any provision for companies like Limited Run Games to produce disc versions specifically for collectors, but at the moment there’s no indication that they will – although if they were looking for some way to placate fans that might be one option.

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Despite the internet seemingly being up in arms over the decision, though, there’s little in the way of any organised opposition, with the biggest petition having only just passed 100,000 signatures.

That might sound like a lot in theory but given the PlayStation 5 has sold over 90 million consoles so far, it’s clear the majority of owners don’t see it as a major issue. Or at least are not motivated enough to try and do anything about it.

Whether that will change over the coming days and weeks remains to be seen but Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has spoken out against the move. Although, in comments made at an Italian film festival, he seemed more worried about what would happen to movies, even as he said he found the news ‘really sad.’

‘[Games] are downloaded to the hard drive, that means the game data remains on your own hardware. However, if things shift to streaming in the future, that won’t be the case anymore, he said, according to a translation by Genki.

‘One naturally has to consider the possibility that if there is a change, the data inside will stop being distributed. And if that happens you won’t be able to watch or play the movies and games you like,’ he added. ‘That is what is frightening.’

As unpopular as Sony’s move may be with hardcore gamers the fact remains that they wouldn’t have tried to do it if the vast majority of customers weren’t already buying games digitally most of the time. That fact alone is why, with the possible exception of a few minor concessions, Sony is never likely to backtrack.

Xbox boss Asha Sharma with Hideo Kojima and Matt Booty
It remains to be seen how Xbox is going to react to all this (X/Hideo Kojima)