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Digital Distribution News

The latest Digital Distribution coverage curated for game developers.

"It's sad and devastating" – Black Myth: Wukong's physical publisher is mourning the loss of PlayStation discs

GamesIndustry.biz says PM Studios is mourning Sony’s plan to end PlayStation disc production in January 2028, a move that hits one of the last big physical channels. CEO Michael Yum …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 3 days, 6 hours ago
GOG brings back "big box" PC games, one printable template at a time

Ars Technica reports that GOG is reviving PC gaming’s big-box era with downloadable 3D box models and printable packaging for a small set of classics. Owners of five games can …

News Ars Technica · 2 weeks, 2 days ago
European games industry revenue reached €30bn in 2025

GamesIndustry.biz reports that European games industry revenue hit €30 billion in 2025, with digital purchases making up 91% of the total. The expanded 16-country survey also shows 123,000 workers across …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 4 weeks ago
Xbox officially announces disc to digital program

Xbox has officially launched a disc-to-digital program that lets players convert eligible physical games into digital licenses. For developers and publishers, it’s another sign that the console market is continuing …

News Game Developer · 4 weeks, 1 day ago
Xbox’s new disc-to-digital program gives physical games a digital future

Ars Technica reports that Xbox is adding a disc-to-digital program that lets owners of most Xbox One and Xbox Series X disc games claim a digital entitlement by inserting the …

News Ars Technica · 4 weeks, 1 day ago
Xbox to let Insiders convert physical game discs into digital entitlements later this month

GamesIndustry.biz reports Xbox will start testing a disc-to-digital entitlement flow with Insiders on August 31. Supported Xbox One and Series X discs can unlock a digital copy, while the disc …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 4 weeks, 1 day ago
Sony acknowledges backlash, “cautiously” moves ahead with end of PlayStation discs

Ars Technica reports Sony is cautiously moving toward ending PlayStation game disc production by January 2028. CFO Lin Tao tied the shift to the broader move to digital distribution, but …

News Ars Technica · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
PlayStation reports flat Q1 sales, says it's "cautiously moving forward" with halting physical disc production

Sony’s Q1 gaming business was basically flat at ¥937.1 billion, but operating income jumped 37% to ¥202 billion thanks in part to US tariff refunds. The bigger long-term signal is …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Ubisoft expects "superior financial performance" from Black Flag remake, but won't increase guidance due to "strong competitive lineup"

Ubisoft says Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced should outperform a full-price release because remakes reuse assets and cut marketing spend. The company still isn’t lifting Q2 guidance, pointing to a …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months ago
Sony's decision to ditch discs was practically inevitable, data shows

Physical game sales in the US have collapsed from 297 million units in the 12 months ending June 2009 to 37 million in the last year. That long decline helps …

News Ars Technica · 2 months ago
RIP bargain bin: The price impact of Sony's disc-free PlayStation plan

Sony’s move toward a disc-free PlayStation future could erase one of the last reliable sources of cheap physical game copies. In a price check across 19 current PlayStation bestsellers, used …

News Ars Technica · 2 months ago
Sony clarifies re-order support for existing PlayStation discs

Sony will keep supporting re-orders for existing PlayStation discs past the January 2028 production cutoff, easing one immediate concern for publishers with physical pipelines. The company is also changing how …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 2 weeks ago
"We are profoundly disappointed by Sony's decision" – Game companies express dismay at the end of PlayStation disc production

Sony will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028, pushing future releases to digital-only. The company is also winding down PS3 and PS Vita Store …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Rockstar workers hit back, PlayStation ditches physical discs, and chipmakers accused of price fixing - Patch Notes #59

Rockstar workers are pushing back after a wave of layoffs, while PlayStation is moving further away from physical discs and Xbox is testing a disc-to-digital path. At the same time, …

News Game Developer · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Sony to close down PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita by July 2027

Sony will shut down the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita, first in select markets this year and then globally in July 2027. After that, new digital purchases on …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Xbox is reportedly considering dropping disc drives as it tests new feature that lets players digitize physical games

Xbox is reportedly testing a way to let players digitize select physical games, a move that would make disc-less hardware more viable. The feature is said to cover only some …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Sony announces end of PlayStation discs, parts of digital store in the same day

Sony says all new PlayStation games will be digital-only by January 2028, and that shift is already reflected in the numbers: 78% of full-game purchases in FY2026 were downloads. For …

News Ars Technica · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Sony to discontinue physical discs for new games launching on PS consoles from January 2028

Sony will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028, pushing all new releases to digital distribution. For developers, that means retail planning, manufacturing, and disc-based …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
PlayStation ending production of physical software in January 2028

Sony says it will stop producing physical PlayStation software in January 2028, a clear sign that disc-based distribution is becoming a long tail. For developers, that means retail packaging, manufacturing …

News Game Developer · 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Circana: Nintendo Switch 2 helped US physical game spending increase year-on-year for first time since 2009

US physical game spending rose 3% year-on-year to $1.6 billion for the 12 months ending May 2026, the first annual increase since 2009. The bump is being driven almost entirely …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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