Sony’s decision to discontinue disc sales from 2028 at Germany’s Gamescom trade show has sparked widespread gamer backlash and boycott calls, according to Agence France-Presse. The shift follows a decade-long industry move toward digital distribution, which NYU Stern School of Business professor Joost van Dreunen told AFP saves companies substantial retail margins.
Why Sony is Phasing Out Physical Game Discs
Physical retail historically costs 20 to 30 percent of total margin on the sale of a single disc, according to Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Utilizing their own infrastructure and internal servers to deliver content electronically allows them to retain substantial profit margins. Sony announced late in July that digital downloads constituted nearly 82 percent of game purchases across the PS4 and PS5 at the beginning of 2026. The Japanese giant helped popularize console discs in the 1990s after launching its first PlayStation.
Gamer Backlash and Retail Industry Concerns
The upcoming transition has alarmed players and independent merchants who point to the loss of ownership rights and second-hand market revenue. Clemens Istel, a spokesman calling for the boycott, told AFP that they go digital to make more profit and there is zero indication that the customer will benefit from this. Used games sometimes accounted for nearly a third of total revenue for shops in Lyon, warned Thomas Bachellerie, a former manager of a local game store. Because digital games cannot be resold or lent, Bachellerie noted that upcoming releases like November 19’s Grand Theft Auto VI
—which features only a download code inside its physical box—leave local retailers with almost no point in selling it anymore.
The Legal Reality of Digital vs. Physical Ownership
Despite consumer attachment to physical boxes and cartridges, legal experts emphasize that buyers never truly own software. Geoffray Brunaux, an attorney specializing in digital law, informed AFP that purchasers of a physical game held no greater ownership rights than those possessing a digital version. Gamers buy licenses to play the game — licenses that can be withdrawn. Consumer advocacy groups are actively challenging these restrictions. In January, the European Commission took receipt of the Stop Destroying Videogames
petition, signed by almost 1.3 million people, after high-profile instances of games being switched off. According to Brunaux, the Dutch consumer organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument is taking legal action against Sony for compelling PlayStation users to purchase exclusively through the PlayStation Store, pointing to monopolistic practices that inflate digital product pricing.
Did you know?
French video game trade association SELL reported in its 2025 study that physical transactions dropped to 11 percent of the national market, yet major releases like EA Sports FC 26
and Assassin’s Creed Shadows
still managed to move hundreds of thousands of disc-based units.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Sony stop selling physical game discs?
Sony’s decision to discontinue disc sales starts from 2028.
Can digital video games be resold or lent to friends?
Do players actually own physical video game discs?
According to digital law attorney Geoffray Brunaux, whether it is physical or digital, you never actually own the game; gamers buy licenses to play the game — licenses that can be withdrawn.
What legal actions are currently targeting digital game restrictions?
Legal action is being pursued against Sony by the Dutch consumer organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument over mandatory purchases through the PlayStation Store, while the European Commission accepted the Stop Destroying Videogames
petition backed by nearly 1.3 million individuals following major incidents where games were disabled.
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