Sony's decision to ditch discs was practically inevitable, data shows

Physical game distribution in the US has been sliding for well over a decade, and the latest Circana tracking makes the trend hard to ignore. In the 12 months ending June 2009, US physical game sales peaked at 297 million units. In the last 12 months, that number is down to 37 million, a drop that turns discs from a mainstream channel into a much smaller slice of the business.

That backdrop gives Sony’s decision to end physical game disc sales in 2028 a lot more context. The move may sting collectors and players who still prefer boxed copies, but the economics have been moving in this direction for years. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella also highlighted how the ceiling for physical PlayStation sales has shrunk: only seven PlayStation games have sold more than 100,000 physical units so far in 2026, compared with 100 PlayStation games crossing that mark in 2008.

For developers and publishers, this is less about nostalgia and more about channel planning. Disc production, retail allocation, and physical inventory all come with costs and constraints that are harder to justify when the audience is this small. The top-selling physical PlayStation game in the US this year has reached just 275,000 units, which underscores how limited the upside has become for boxed releases.

The practical takeaway is that physical can still matter for premium editions, retail visibility, and specific audiences, but it is no longer the default growth path. Teams shipping on PlayStation should expect digital-first economics to keep tightening, with physical releases increasingly treated as a...