Sony's consultation on physical media: better late than never | Opinion

GamesIndustry.biz says Sony is now consulting development partners after its decision to end support for physical game releases, a sequence that makes the company look like it is asking questions after the headline call has already been made. The timing suggests the backlash caught Sony off guard, even if the shift toward digital-only distribution was widely expected for the next console cycle.

For developers, the practical concern is that physical media is not just a legacy format. It still supports resale-driven value at the low end of the market, while also powering premium launches, collector editions, and limited physical runs that can be especially important for indie and niche projects. Those sales may be a small slice of unit volume, but they can represent a meaningful share of revenue.

The broader worry is that digital and physical do not replace each other cleanly. Once discs are gone, pricing power sits entirely with platform holders and publishers, and the second-hand market that helps budget-conscious players disappears with it. The story also points to a possible regulatory angle if Sony’s future hardware ends up looking like a closed ecosystem with no real physical option.