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With today’s news that Sony will cease manufacturing physical PlayStation games starting January 2028, the platform holder has inadvertently confirmed that the PS6 will be a digital-only device.
Even if the machine miraculously makes it out in November 2027, as is apparently the platform holder’s plan amid the ongoing memory crisis, I can’t see it manufacturing physical games for the console only to cease making them two months later.
This effectively confirms that the PS6 will only ever offer digital games.
The big question that Sony needs to answer here is what this means for ongoing preservation and backwards compatibility.
While digital games should be supported no issue at all, if the PS6 doesn’t have a physical Blu-ray drive then your existing library simply won’t function.
There’s absolutely no way PlayStation ships the next-gen console with a drive included, so I think there are only a few options here:
- Sell a standalone Blu-ray drive separately, like it currently does with the PS5 Pro.
- Offer some kind of trade-in programme, where fans can ship in their existing Blu-ray discs in return for a digital code.
- Abandon over a decade of physical purchases, and force fans to hold onto their PS4s and PS5s to play them.
None of these are particularly good options in my opinion, but this is the situation we’re looking at.
I think the least egregious option would probably be selling a standalone Blu-ray drive separately, and it’d be appreciated if the PS6 was compatible with the current PS5 Pro version. That’d cut costs for those who already own one.
Either way, this is going to be a painful transition that’s going to cause a strong backlash and a loss of consumer confidence.
Sony needs to communicate clearly and do right by its customers here.