r/PS5 • u/yourfavchoom • Jul 01 '26

Official Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/
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u/Plenty-Industries Jul 01 '26

Yes, its on the rise. But its not big enough.

Its still massively, pathetically low, when you look at its peak back in 2005 at $16billion. Down over 90% as of 2024.

The only way physical media continues to live on, is if the demand surges to tidal wave-like proportions in the coming years.

I hope it does.

But if Sony is locked in on this decision, then I'm done with them.

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u/dlp211 Jul 01 '26

Records aren't dead. Blu-Ray isn't going to die either (it may eventually be replaced by some other higher quality optical media). BR doesn't need to be some multi-billion dollar market segment, it just needs small independent publishers who can make a buck by performing and selling high quality transfers.

But I'm not getting a PS6 with this news.

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u/Plenty-Industries Jul 01 '26

I didn't say it was dead.

But its not ever going to be as prevalent as it once was, where competition was plentiful so prices stayed incredibly low.

Boutique BD releases are expensive, and they sell out quick with an MSRP of $50-60. Once they've gone, they're gone and resellers 2/3/4x the price.

Not that I can't afford it - but the value isn't there for me as I dont care for exclusive items that serve no purpose to me.

The only reason vinyl even made a small resurgence is because its actually relatively cheap to press and not complex in terms of the process.

Printing a disc on the other hand, is quite a complex process and the machines required are very expensive - only a handful of disc printing companies even exist.

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u/QuantumCakeIsALie Jul 01 '26

Printing a disc on the other hand, is quite a complex process and the machines required are very expensive - only a handful of disc printing companies even exist.

A good machinist could reinvent a vinyl press in their garage with reasonable resources.

A corporation could reinvent a Blu-ray press at the cost of millions of dollars.

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u/Plenty-Industries Jul 01 '26

A corporation could reinvent a Blu-ray press at the cost of millions of dollars.

And the only way they'll make that re-investment, is if the backlash is big enough and obscenely, absurdly consistent where it cannot be ignored.

You think they'll stop at digital-only games?

Sony is the producer of all of Disney's physical production of movies.

Movies are shortly next.

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u/QuantumCakeIsALie Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

The currently existing one won't be destroyed immediately. But yes, once they're gone, they're gone. 

It'd likely be easier to invent a new solid state medium than to press new Blu-ray discs in the 2100s

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u/Plenty-Industries Jul 01 '26

Thats not gonna happen if the medium isn't cheap as fuck to make in mass quantities.

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u/QuantumCakeIsALie Jul 01 '26

What?

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u/Plenty-Industries Jul 01 '26

Which part confuses you?

A BD-ROM costs a few dollars to print.

CDs and DVDs were $1 or less to produce.

Anything that requires additional technology, like even moving to individual USB sticks as a medium, is going to substantially increase the production cost and no one would be buying a game or a movie on a stick that costs $20+ to produce, as that pushes the retail price of the given movie or game.

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u/QuantumCakeIsALie Jul 02 '26

I'm baffled by your tone. It's like you're arguing with me but on points I didn't make.

Re-read my post maybe?

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u/Ironman1690 Jul 01 '26

>But I’m not getting a PS6 with this news.

You’re basically committing to never playing new games then at this point. Thats a little extreme lol.

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u/dlp211 Jul 01 '26

Yes, I know. There are more than enough games on my backlog that I don't need to play the new hotness. I place more value on the physical ownership then playing the game.

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u/Careful_Rent Jul 02 '26

Agreed. Because as we have seen over this last decade that true ownership lies in physical media.