PlayStation fans get a potential update on the future of physical discs following a reported developer survey. Although Sony Interactive Entertainment previously announced it would end physical disc production for all new PlayStation games starting in January 2028.
On the Broken Silicon podcast, Tom, the creator of the Moore’s Law Is Dead YouTube channel, said that Sony sent a large survey to game developers.
Tom said, “There is a survey Sony sent out to developers that is, what I was told by my contacts, a bigger survey than they’ve sent almost ever before, if not ever before. And there was a question in it, basically trying to ask, in a not-direct way, ‘Is there an issue with how we sell games physically?’ or something like that, asking developers for feedback on killing discs.”
The creator also addressed PlayStation 5’s latest exclusive game, Marvel’s Wolverine, which is currently selling “plenty of physical copies.” The creator continued, “Wolverine is still selling plenty of physical copies, and you’ve also got Sony starting to ask devs if they are worried about killing physical [discs], suggesting they realize that if they got a bunch of feedback, maybe they would consider some sort of mea culpa on it. We’ll see.”
That said, these claims come solely from Tom and his reported sources. Sony Interactive Entertainment has not released any official statements.
Why Sony is asking developers about the future of physical PlayStation games
Sony’s decision to poll game developers about PlayStation’s physical game copies comes months after Gamescom, where developers reportedly voiced concerns about the decision. Although when the decision was announced, many fans and gamers protested against it. However, with these protests coming from developers themselves, Sony seems to have taken a stand.
However, Sony’s executives previously stated that the company would proceed with its decision. In a July interview, Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao said, “We have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us. so we understand those emotions. We want to consider that. And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore.”
Sony plans to stop the production of the PlayStation physical game discs starting in 2028, which would align closely with the expected release window of the PlayStation 6 consoles.
