PS6 May Not Be the Only Fully Digital Console Next-Gen

To be expected if we're being honest. Xbox won't get as much backlash for it though, because how many hardcore collectors play on Xbox?

xbox are planning to allow players to be able to receive digital entitlements for thier physical games.

Of course it won't. Xbox sells even fewer physical games than PlayStation

@trev666 Yup they are there's an in depth article over on true achievements about how it will most likely be implemented and it sounds very easy.
Lending games is still possible with how they say it will work.

@Mr-Cage yes its very good of them I doubt sony will offer the same service

Watch as Xbox doesn't get as anywhere near as much anger.

Xbox trained gamers on their platform not to buy games at all, never mind physically.

85% of gamers (based on actual data) don't by physical games on PS.

The hypocrisy behind this entire topic is actually staggering.

I expect everyone in the PushSquare and PlayStation Blog comments to buy physical games only from this point on, vote with your wallet right...99% physical sales next month.

I think all digital next generation console games make sense. I do think Xbox sound like they are going in the right direction with the disc to digital conversion.
I’ve had a fully digital library since the launch of the PS4 so it’s not something that directly affects me, however I’ve always thought one of the benefits of the next generation games consoles being backwards compatible is being able to sell your previous generation of hardware to offset the cost.
For example I paid £360 for my digital PS5 at launch and sold my base PS4 for £160 so it only really cost me £200 net to upgrade, which sounds crazy when you look at the current prices and will probably cost me £300-400 to upgrade just from PS5 to PS5Pro!

Even if PS6 doesn’t have a disk drive it would be good if players can use their PS5 to convert their discs to digital and then access their PS4 & PS5 libraries on their PS6. They could then sell their PS5 console whilst retaining their physical copies if they ever want to use them on a PS5 again in the future.

With the cost of next generation console hardware seeming to come in at a high price it will be important for people to be able to offset the cost and make it more affordable.

I’ll be very clear, I don’t like an all-digital future, I understand it’s inevitable and always expected Xbox to be the first digital-only platform and Sony beat them to it.

However the Xbox/Microsoft Store is just much better positioned to be an all-digital platform as they allow to sell digital games in several other storefronts often with cheaper prices, they have regionalized pricing and support every country’s currency instead of imposing USD as the PS Store does, their refund policy isn’t nowhere near as restrictive as Sony’s, many games even give you a double entitlement for console and PC, you’re allowed to change regions if for whatever reason you made an account elsewhere or changed country residency, hell even the eShop allows most of these and they’re simply not as restrictive as Sony who seems stuck in the 2010’s, specially with cybersecurity which is the account most vulnerable to be stolen via social engineering and for years they’ve done absolutely nothing to improve it.

@trev666 Stranger things have happened maybe after the backlash of this announcement they could try do something similar?
I know the percentage lately of physical sales are low compared to digital but we are still talking about a massive number of physical games being sold.
There should be some way for them to keep the collection going forward other than holding onto the ps5

In other breaking news, it's reported that the next Mac will ship without a disc drive.

I'm not celebrating the all-digital future, but this move is entirely expected and I think the collective meltdown feels a bit performative. I know there's a contingent of hardcore fans, especially on this website, that buy physical, but normies just don't anymore and this change won't affect them at all.

I'm not saying you need to grin and bear it and a reduction in choice is never a good thing, but if you actually love the act of playing video games more than collecting them, I feel like this is at most an annoyance and not a dealbreaker.

This should knock £100 of the price though right?... Right?!

Pretty obvious when it's going to be a PC.

@wildcat_kickz for alot of physical players its not about collecting its about having a game that once installed you will be able to play when ever you like with no fear of ever loosing access to it. if PlayStation ever went out of business you wouldn't be able to play a single digital game

@trev666 I understand that, but the chances of that happening are almost zero. There are people saying they're never going to buy another game from PlayStation again. So, you'd rather have a 100% chance of not playing something now because there's a 0.001% chance of losing access in 2070?

@DennisReynolds This! Being discless is even worse for Xbox since its backwards compatibility works with physical games going back to the original Xbox.

Xbox also stopped producing its own physical games years ago and no one cared. Only Sony isn’t allowed.

Who would've thought Nintendo would be the last one standing?

Considering how consoles are becoming more and more like PCs, their appeal diminishes daily.

Helix not having a disc drive is a foregone conclusion at this point.

@Pat_trick Most people.

@wildcat_kickz “If it doesn’t affect me then complaints are surely overblown”.

It’s disappointing to still read some comments like this, trying to be apologetic to Sony and doing backflips to justify them, we all knew digital games were taking over but to have a sudden cutoff like this doesn’t make you even slightly uneasy? Don’t you think that if PlayStation will become a digital-only platform they must do A LOT of improvements to their tech stack and customer policies? Don’t you think they should have elaborated on these improvements and the impact for the millions of people who still have physical games?
15% of 90 million is still quite a lot of customers they’re kicking in the balls and you expect us to go quietly? I’ll certainly not.

@Pat_trick I politely disagree, the consoles are still more plug and play friendly. Nothing has changed apart from a few more graphical toggle options in games. Obviously those with a more technical knowledge can tweak a few extra settings here and there but for the most part you dont need to touch anything other than in the games themselves.

Price wise at least on initial purchase of the console only (not accounting for games etc) they will still be less than a solid PC as costs for all mediums of entertainment are going up across the board.

@trev666 That's only good if you're a physical collector with a massive collection, it's basically a way for you to still play your older games which is great and something Playstation should do to. But it doesn't change the fact that new releases still won't be releasing on disk.

@IllusiveMan "It affects me and my preferences trump all others. I want to ruin businesses because I can't handle change."

See how twisting someone's words and straw-manning their argument is super lame?

I already said that a reduction in choice isn't good. I also said you shouldn't grin and bear it. Did you even read my comment? I'm not defending Sony, but I am defending reality. In your mind, what would be a "not sudden" cutoff. They're giving you two years notice!

You can shop around and get great deals on game codes for Xbox/Windows games. For Sony you are locked into their over-priced store, that's the huge difference for me.

@Gabe250 With the gift of hindsight, right? Because Nintendo introduced game key cards and everyone here made fun of Nintendo and was happy the PS5 had real physical media. It's easy for you to stand on the pedestal of correctness after the information has been provided.

@TDHorizon I would agree with you before the existence of the Steam Machine. They're bridging the gap between consoles and PC. And the new PS console will be so expensive, it won't be that much of a difference between the two.

PC for the win then. Goodbye consoles, goodbye closed ecosystems. I'll take my money where I'm seen as more than just an open wallet.

@Jacko11 "85% of gamers (based on actual data) don't by physical games on PS."

No, that's not the statistic. The statistic is that 85% of PS4/PS5 full game sales were digital: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2026/05/physical-game-fans-beware-digital-downloads-hit-an-astonishing-85percent-on-ps5-ps4-last-quarter

That's a big difference, and (without more granular data) I would argue is not comparing apples with apples, because
smaller or indie games often do not get physical releases at all, so digital is the only option, or older games where a physical disc is hard to find, heavy PSN discounts, and multiplayer or live service games where the split skews digital.

We know from other sources that when it comes to the bigger ticket AAA games, the split can often be closer to 50/50 on a per game basis. For instance, Spider-Man 2 in the UK market was ~54% physical, AC Mirage was ~49% physical, and Hogwarts Legacy was ~45% physical.

@chatbot Isn't the next Xbox gonna have an open ecosystem rather than a closed one? I mean, it's basically going to be a PC that plays Xbox console games. That is, unless Asha Sharma changes something about Helix

Do we know that this affects 3rd party games?
I have read the blog a couple of times, and it really isn't clear. I read it as just their games, until clarified.

Do they manufacture/ print all discs?
Or do other publishers print their own?
If so, how does Sony 'stop supporting' discs printed by other publishers?

@8th_Observer Xbox is doing physical to digital for next gen my dude.
Also I'd say Xbox won't get as much crap for going fully digital as there total physical sales percentage is at a much lower number compared to digital and lower total sales compared to playstation.

@KayUK yeah that's the reason I might end up with a steamdeck seeing as it has a few storefronts.

I'd only get a portable PS6 if it had the same.

I didn't expect Xbox to be any better than playstation. Oh well, maybe the Steam machine 2 will have a better price.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my Switch 2 even more.

@wildcat_kickz And how is providing alternatives “ruining businesses”? Is PlayStation now suddenly running at a loss because they still sell physical games? Come on, don’t make up some BS to help your argument.

In your ‘defense on reality’ what should we do then? Cross our arms, keep quite and collectively allow Sony to do whatever they want? Is it now “performative” to complain? Are we not allowed to ask for alternatives or call for to at least improve their digital policies?
It’s maddening when some get more upset at people complaining at Sony for some BS, than for the BS Sony is pulling in the first place…

@IllusiveMan Yep, some people seem to feel a bit powerless so they have talk about how actually it’s a good thing.

@Rich33 All discs from third parties (including the likes of Limited Run Games) are printed by Sony. PlayStation discs are printed by Sony’s official manufacturing facilities, because all PS4 and PS5 discs must be produced through Sony’s licensed disc‑pressing pipeline.

A non‑Sony pressed disc simply won’t authenticate, because every PlayStation disc contains Sony‑encrypted data, Sony‑signed metadata, and a Sony‑specific physical disc structure that the console checks before it even tries to boot the game.

If any of those elements are missing or invalid, the console stops immediately. The disc is treated as unlicensed, invalid, or simply not a PlayStation disc.

Not only do they not want you to own the games, they don’t want you to own the hardware either in this tech fiefdom uber capitalistic wasteland we find ourselves in.

@Mr-Cage They are allegedly doing physical to digital, we’ll have to see what actually happens.

My point was that they’d be cutting off a bigger swath with several more games that aren’t available digitally.

@KayUK You can get codes discounted from ShopTo all of the time for PSN wallet top ups. And it doesnt take long to become a gold member through purchasing these top up cards, and then once you do climb each tier you get more and more discounts off

@IllusiveMan I know that wasn't your argument. Take a beat and look up the definition of straw-manning. Then, take a second beat and self-reflect on the fact that the frustration you felt when I completely misrepresented your argument was felt by me when you misrepresented my argument.

I think the reduction of choice sucks. I also think it's not the end of the world and I'm tired of people catastrophizing.

I know Sony needs better infrastructure, better customer support, and more choice for digital purchases. I've literally made these arguments on other articles within the last day. I'm not going to bullet point everything wrong with Sony every time because some idiots on a website might think I'm a fanboy.

@Questionable_Duck nobody knows. That is all just rumours. Nobody knows what the Helix will actually be like and what restrictions they may apply. And theres no reason to buy one because I expect it will be inferior to a self built PC.

@chatbot I mean, they already confirmed it will play PC games, that's not a rumor. Same with it being backwards compatible with previous Xbox consoles.

You can build a PC sure, and that may be the better option for those who have no interest in the Xbox ecosystem, but if you already own Xbox games, then Project Helix makes sense based off what they confirmed about it so far. It all depends on the price.

I haven't kept up with Nintendo. Are they still physical too, and if so how long will that last for?

@Questionable_Duck well I dont own xbox games so its pointless. Either way Microsoft arent doing this out of the kindness of their hearts to provide you with a value for money PC that you can then choose to completely ignore the whole microsoft ecosystem on. If anything its a way to force xbox users into the PC ecosystem so they can ditch hardware completely.

Of course Microsoft are doing it, they wanted this two gens ago, and Sony wouldn't do it if the other wasn't.

In all this I just wonder where's the anger for the pc market? Surely those pc gamers are miserable as hell since they lost physical games an age ago

Or is it just a console thing, there must always be discs and cartridges like there must always be a stark in winterfell?

@Bizzy
Thank you. I knew about the authentication, but not that Sony manufactured / printed everyone's discs themselves.

If we’re all going full digital will the game prices be reduced accordingly? We all know the answer. Time to bin Sony off and use a more user friendly store like steam.

@ShadowRJ @DennisReynolds They won’t get as much backlash because they are planning a disc to digital program. That’s the difference. If Sony is doing something similar they should have announced it at the same time to reduce backlash.

This isnt surpassing with the Game Pass push and all discs requiring a download

@TDHorizon Oh yeh, I have done before mate. But even then it's still expensive compared to getting a Series X game code on Loaded. A £70 top is around £62, a game code for Series X is typically £45-50 quid (in my experience). Depending where you are in the world it may be different ofc

@Boxmonkey About this - the PS Blog did mention digital games available at retailers - which could mean some would sell them at lower prices

As expected for Xbox. They already shown the signs many moons ago. So nothing to see here.

@DennisReynolds 100% They'll get away with it because they have teased the possibility of doing disk to digital transfers. Sony hasn't and probably could have saved themselves a lot of backlash if they had of done the same.

Some of the flak PlayStation has been getting on twitter/x has been so great to see, particularly Dominoes! 🍕

@StrickenBiged the hypocrisy in this outcry still stands.

Everyone will be buying physical games from now on so it's not an issue anymore...

@ElectricWizard this changes nothing, nice try though x

@MrPeanutbutterz I saw your comment despite its justified removal.

You can refer up 2 comments for my thoughts, which are correct moving forward...

I've not had a stupid, slow, noisy, coaster-spinning drive in my PC for a good 15 years. Certainly haven’t used one for well over 20 years.

Seriously, what are we doing here with his laughable prehistoric tech?

Shall we go back to saving our games on memory cards or writing down codes at the end of each level on a piece of paper?

Maybe have a little cable attached to our controller that you have to plug into the console?

We been knowing Helix won't have physical media, Xbox was already half way there this gen. The problem is Sony knows that and decided that it will proudly hold the L for both Playstation and Xbox. Absolutely horrible leadership!

@Jacko11 I kind of get your point. I do wonder how many people grumbling and signing petitions actually buy a lot of physical games.

@Voltan yeah Sony will push that message at the beginning to foster goodwill. 2 years later they’ll backtrack

@Pat_trick Don’t have a steam machine, but as someone with a PS5, Switch 2 and Steam Deck the consoles are still far more straightforward to use than the deck, and much less likely to require faff to get things working.

The negative is you lose flexibility and the deck is often very console like, but it’s not there yet and people have been selling the machine’s price as ok because of that flexibility.

I’d pay extra for the ease of life personally which is why I like consoles. (I also love the deck)

@Pat_trick No, not with the benefit of hindsight. Nintendo might have key cards, but most games are still on the cart. Plus, Microsoft & Sony have been doing the same for years. But the real tell tale sign is that Nintendo has the lowest ratio of digital to physical sales. In Japan, it's barely over half. I still expect the S3 or whatever follows to not take physical media too, but this is the outcome I saw.

@Dogbreath

Well that's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of but I think people just love being outraged tbh.

It's not bothered pc gamers at all having huge digital drm enabled steam libraries for decades.

As for consoles, disc releases have been a nonsense for about a decade now, nothing but a empty case with a flyer if you are lucky with an ad for dlc and a disc that's only used as drm and to partially install the game while a internet download did the rest.

It's the end of am era but we don't get love film dvds in the post anymore either . Or make weekend trips to blockbuster video.

hasn't truly been a proper physical release since the days of PS2. It is what it is, people will moan, the younger generation won't have a clue what the oldies are moaning about.

Seems there will continue to be physical cases at least for those that can't let go

This is much less of a big deal to me, as you'll be able to access other storefronts. PCs already don't have physical games and this is a rebranded PC.

But jf you buy a console without other storefronts and no physical games, you are completely at the mercy of the publisher. They have no incentive to lower prices. They have no incentive to give you backup options if they close the store (Steam does have a backup)

I know this is not a popular opinion, but I don’t understand the outrage and shock over this. I absolutely understand the disappointment-I want consumers to have as many options as possible. My vote would be physical and digital options forever.

But the writing has been on the wall about this for years. People are just not buying physical games. We see the same numbers they do. This has been inevitable for a long time. And Sony is getting raked over the coals right now, but Microsoft is going to do the same thing and eventually so is Nintendo. Because that is what the market is demanding. Some of the loudest voices want physical games, but the vast majority of gamers don’t want them.

I don’t like this, but I have been resigned to it for years. What I want Sony to do now is to make owning digital consumer friendly, including a commitment that we will always have access to the digital games we purchase no matter what. But, not only will Sony not reverse course on this, but every other company people are praising today will eventually do it too. Because physical releases are not where the money is.

@Nexozi Sony should have waited until after GTA VI released. Why they chose to announce it this week of all weeks is beyond me.

@DennisReynolds That's a good point GTA VI is all digital. Could have instantly responded back to the criticism with "look at what you all bought"

@DennisReynolds My guess is they're expecting a lot of negative press around Microsoft in the coming week, perhaps they think it will help overshadow this. People are fickle and love to jump on something new to be outraged about.

@Gabe250 Fair enough. I see your point

@Ed_Zeppelin The Steam Machine is apparently simpler than the deck. I'll have to take a look to see if it's that more complex. I feel like Valve's goal is to eventually bridge the gap.

Yup, that would not be surprising either. I can see Xbox going that route.

Even people living under rocks couldn't have realistically expected Helix to have a disc-drive.

But the shock from Sony going nuclear first can still be seen by the artistry of mental gymnastics on display 🤣🤣. It will be alright people, Microsoft will be doing it too.

@Jacko11 the 85% that keeps getting pushed only tells part of the story. I’d be interested to see how the numbers are for day one purchases alone, I’d be willing to bet a lot higher given Astro Bot was reportedly more than physical than digital. Also had RE4R which again, reportedly at least 50/50. Those being two of the biggest releases in recent years. The 85% thing factors in a lot of stuff that people buy on sale because it’s under £20 and are willing to take a risk (me being one of them). Until those figures are released, they can’t keep pushing this narrative that barely anyone buys physical. Even 15% of 80 million console owners equates to a ton of money potentially off the table.

@KayUK Yeah you're not far off I'd say! That sounds about right for prices here in the UK. I think with the gold membership its currently about 58/60 for a £70 card and obviously the savings go up even further with the higher value cards which is what I usually try and take advantage of

@Cres_Waven1 It's a lot of money off the table looking at it from a surface level but I'm sure multiple Sony accountants have cross examined loss from one avenue, profit from another, and all the risk in between and said they're going to be better off without it. It's not a decision they just pulled out of the air because why not.

@trev666 - Hopefully the backlash over going away from physical does push them into creating an entitlements system where users can lend other users an entitlement for a game or even sell the entitlement.

@Questionable_Duck

They never really said it would play PC Games, and they need to really be more clear there. What they meant, from all my nerd reading, is that it'll run a PC built version of a game.

Stupid sounding I know lol. Basically if you watch the full 2026 GDC video, they explain they have built a new Unified Game Developer Kit. So instead of having two programs, they now have one. Devs can opt to stick with the older if they want, but the new one is leagues better in regards to benefits.

1. When you build with the new kit, it auto publishes a copy for the Helix. So with hardly any steps, unlike before, games are made for Xbox first.

2. The new kit includes hosted leader boards, playfab, less paperwork, etc. so the devs save time and money with it. Getting older paid features for free.

I don't expect it to play steam or anything. The new kit simply takes the build, and applies the Helix Optimizations by default, then allows it to continue on. It'll still allow the game to be scalable based on PC requirements of the devs min or recommended specs.

@Pat_trick Thanks, interesting- I’ll do some digging on that. I do think they will always struggle to be truly simpler than consoles when part of the selling point is the flexibility that inevitably makes some aspects more complicated.

I’ve quite enjoyed the additional options the deck gives. Getting GTA 4 running on it was a relative pain (desktop mode, new apps and add ons etc) but at least it’s an option, unlike PS5, so swings and roundabouts!

@11001100110zero Interesting... You may have a point

@Deadp001 Switch 2 physical releases now come in 3 flavours: full on-cartridge releases, Game-Key Cards, and codes in a box.

1. A full cartridge means the entire game is on the card, no internet needed, playable straight out of the box, and resellable. Nintendo's own first-party titles fall into this category.

2. Game-Key Cards look identical to real cartridges but only act as a license: you still need to download the full game, keep the card inserted to play, and lose access if you lose the card.

3. Code in a box: literally just a download code inside game packaging (GTA6 style). Once redeemed, it's linked permanently to your Nintendo Account. No lending, no reselling.

Nintendo is reportedly offering only limited cartridge size options, and the production costs of large-capacity cartridges eat into profits. Talking about Final Fantasy VII Remake; Square-Enix has noted that Switch 2 cartridge transfer speeds aren't fast enough for games originally built for other platforms.

Bottom line: If you care about owning a physical game truly, stick to confirmed full-cartridge releases - mostly Nintendo first-party titles. (With some nice extras like Hades II, Shenmue III and Cyberpunk - though this last one is admittedly best played anywhere else)

@trev666 Agreed, it's why when Funimation went down and 'transfer' of others to Crunchyroll many of us still have our disk versions of anime. That was Sony too. Let alone the many movies removal from Sony. Microsoft said about Movies Anywhere but even then, those not compatible with it, well. They didn't say about removing them but just other platforms available for things. But even still. Physical we can rip the disks, we can put it in and watch or whatever from there. They say they not to but people do it. Alter them, rip them, when it's a 'as in' license to watch it and put on the shelf and sell it even if they'd advise not to for their profits and holding the money for so long to count as a sale before it's 2nd hand market related at that point.

Many people still don't get how it works yet it's not hard to understand the value/what people are passionate about, familiar with, what people enjoy and pricing them accordingly no matter how common or rare. Reading people.

Also all the R&D work for disks/carts, they may not have wanted to go for it, same time. Make consoles, merch, layoffs, who knows of reworking the factories as well.

Like any disk, USB, SD card we can do a lot with it. We may have bought a license, have the data on it, etc. that way of licensing then digital or less content on it with such disk licensing. We know what the old and the new ways are and how they worked not 'owning it' just access to it and if we chose to. They say not to but people do otherwise anyway of altering, ripping, etc anyway. How else do people preserve them. Let alone not all are making homebrew in emulators either. Many people know that.

So that's 2 times Sony has done that.

Let alone many of us that know any services, many anything will be removed, shut down, etc.

Products with apps/AI, many shut down and useless unless someone has a technical know how or even cares to do anything with them/break the DRM and so on about them.

People know they keep a disk to have something to install whenever, to offset the downloading time/data and just get the updates, to use it offline, have something there.

I mean I've questioned how much you get it, put it in, and not need to use the disk/SD card or whatever anymore, but we know why we are forced to use the physical and the license checks they have in software to force us to instead of put it and sell it/use it again for a fresh install or something.