@Krlozgod I do remember the cross-buy feature for some games where buying either the console version or the Vita version automatically opened access to the other version. I’m not sure about the technical details but I have a suspicion that those titles were specifically prepared to make that system work. I don’t think all games had the disc manufactured to be uniquely identified. I could be wrong though.
But you bring up a good example of a nostalgic initiative from years past where Sony really was customer-focused and had cross-buy as an incentive to engage with their ecosystem. You basically got two copies of the game for the price of one. Not all game had the feature, and I do remember having PS3 games where I bought both the console version and the Vita version as two separate licenses, but indeed some games the other version came free.
Even if there’s not a unique identifier on each disc, perhaps there’s a way to still make disc-to-digital work. Like I say, I’m not technically savvy (that’s why I like playing on console instead of PC). It’s a completely different issue but I remember how PlayStation had trouble working out the ability to change your PSN ID. Apparently Sony tied your account to the actual name you create when you open your account and so changing it was felt impossible, whereas on Xbox, Microsoft tied your account to a linked numerical identifier and your name was just what showed and so it was easy to switch the name that linked to your account number. So Xbox always had the ability to change your online ID name easily, but it took Sony a long time to figure a workaround to be able to change your name and yet not lose access to your whole account because it was linked to that specific name. They finally figured it out though. I have no idea if this disc issue could be similarly solved by the programmers.
@CielloArc @8th_Observer Yes, indeed. In my humble and simple opinion, as someone who just buys their games and products, I think one of the largest missteps to this whole debacle is that Sony dropped a bomb and then just ran for cover with no further explanation. It would have gone over much better (not good, but better) to say “we’re stopping disc production in a year and a half and this is how we are going to make our services even better for you the customer… “ and then fill in with info of some positive improvements, like maybe this disc to digital, competitive pricing or price reductions, enhanced store features like refunds or exchanges, game preservation, improved digital rights, added competitor storefronts, options for physical game collectors, the options for people with physical PS4/PS5 libraries to carry forward to PS6 and how/if it will be back compatible, the shaky infrastructure of the PSN and security lately and how that will be improved, etc.
Obviously they don’t need to address all these things in the announcement but even just tossing us a bone to say “we’re ceasing discs in 2028 but we have some great improvements and enhanced options for our dedicated fans coming up for the PSN. More info soon”. But we didn’t even get that. They only gave us the bad news and the went on media silence. Meanwhile Xbox is laying out a better plan for the all-digital future.
It would go a long way to repairing the fan outrage if Sony has something similar, but my understanding is that Xbox disc have unique identifiers included on each disc whereas Sony never did that with theirs. So I don’t know how easy it would be to implement this without the risk of the system being taken advantage of. 🤞🏼 Here’s hoping!
@LogicStrikesAgain Yes indeed, WSJ is a financial publication. So I can allow for some “corporate speak” to be taken out of context with the interview, and if this was an isolated incident then it would probably be swept under the rug. Unfortunately Sony are under the microscope now though, after disc-gate, layoffs, billion dollar mistakes, cancellations, rising prices, and general controversy about their corporate strategies. So everything will be magnified.
And even though he’s speaking to a closed peer group of business people, it’s a small peek behind the curtain of how the decision makers really feel. Kind of like when you’re with your buddies chatting at the pub people might say something offensive that they’d never say in public, and yet it’s a window into maybe how they really feel. 😅
@LogicStrikesAgain Honestly I don’t think the lay public “know how businesses work”, at least beyond the surface level. And I don’t necessarily think companies should expect them to. It’s literally why a public relations department exists. To, well… relate to the public.
And in fairness, as has been mentioned by someone else, the interview in the Wall Street Journal wasn’t meant to be consumed by the lay public, but I think a CEO needs to be prepared for content to permeate downward.
And I do think it’s not Mr. Totoki’s job to be a PR expert, but when the average hourly wage earner out in the mines reads about “monetizing the user”, as if the customer is an object to be manipulated, it does come across as a tad… offensive. Again, I know CEO’s don’t have time (or the talent) to be in touch with the commoner and the end user who is being trivialized from being a valued person who supports the brand to simply… a number to be exploited or schemed. So, as many things with Sony lately, it’s an issue of poor communication. Although I do still feel like it’s telling, in the context of all the other stumblings of late, that there’s been such a loss of connection to the players and an inept reputation management.
@GirlVersusGame Personally I enjoy these discussions, mainly because Push has users from across the globe with various backgrounds and we all bring a slightly different perspective, even if in the end we’re all gamers with a common love for the craft.
When economics and politics get mixed in, things get complicated. Because as you say, I also think/thought the games industry (like most artistic endeavors like music, art, literature) is, at its core, people “happy doing something they love” and so we can only hope that those convictions and principles diffuse into the corporate suite from time to time. Because yes, economics and livelihood are what make the world go round but art and culture are what make life worthwhile.
@GirlVersusGame That’s very interesting and I appreciate what you’re saying.
I guess I just have issue with what @ButteredCrumpet and several other of the more pragmatic users have said in looking at the situation through a unipolar lens of “all successful companies don’t actually care about their product or their customer.” And that making more money at all costs is the only driver for their actions. Or like you say, that all corporations are basically glorified drug dealers, essentially.
I think such a philosophy ignores the B-corporations and philanthropic purpose-driven organizations like Costco, Patagonia, and of course, Newman’s Own (which I’ve learned is quite a unique company that I need to support more).
Being nice to your customers and being successful are not mutually exclusive. Altruism and good customer service can be used as an economic asset and be a means to empower your company. The pessimistic view that Crumpet and others are saying (if I’m interpreting them correctly) is that even companies that treat you well with good PR are only manipulating you for their selfish gain. Can an action be genuinely kind and considerate if doing it makes an organization more successful? I would argue yes. An individual who enjoys being generous doesn’t thereby become less generous. Likewise, a corporation can have a business model where virtue and competitive advantage reinforce each other.
The alternative viewpoint is that there is no viable institutional structure in which an organization can be both extremely successful and also genuinely oriented toward being humane. That is a depressing thought, and I think at that point we all have to look around and say, “Well then what’s the point?” , teleologically speaking. It’s baffling to me that we’ve all been trained to just accept the fact that we’re supposed to be slaves for the machine and there’s no alternative outcome.
@ButteredCrumpet Yikes! That’s a dismal commentary on our existence as human beings. I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I have been clinging to a semblance of faith in the decency of people, and by extension the institutions they create. This may be why I’m not a millionaire. If you’re right, then there are no virtuous millionaires. No one finds joy or satisfaction by doing the right thing for the right reason anymore. It’s all about lying and manipulating others for self gain. I think that’s what you’re saying are your observations of the corporate world. Aren’t there any artists, creatives, philanthropists, or altruists out there who are honest and still make money? “The customer is always right” is an antiquated way to run a business?
@ButteredCrumpet “I must admit, people have claimed they desire Sony and their PlayStation brand to be a lot more transparent of late, well, here we are now, realising why many companies prefer to either be fake or silent.”
Option 1) Inconsiderate, tactless, and brutally honest, option 2) fake, option 3) silent…. Well, there is an option 4. How about having a little discernment, understanding, and graciousness toward the customer. 😅 I think a company can be transparent and still not come across as ruthless and objectifying to their clientele.
Unfortunately I have to agree with a lot of this article. Sony first party has underperformed the last few years, and many years and many dollars have been wasted in empty pursuits.
This is at the core of why I’ve lost faith in the executive decision making. I completely understand that people make mistakes from time to time, but this has been a series of poor decisions and poor management, billions of dollars, thousands of employees livelihoods.
When people tell me that Sony knows what they’re doing with cutting off physical media, these drastic game development missteps with live service are what I point to as the major reason that I cannot have faith in the upper leadership to know the gaming industry and what players want. How can I trust that there’s any sense among them? It seems like basic common sense is all but gone. I’m not sure they know how to read and interpret gaming trends.
@get2sammyb @AdamNovice It has been 13 years and true that the industry has changed since the disc-sharing video he was in, but still— that was an iconic moment and a direct troll on Xbox, and seemed like a major turning point for the PS4, XB1 generation. It’s just bitter irony that he says this after being part of that important and consequential ad. Sure, the guy is allowed to promote what he was trolling 13 years ago (I certainly have changed in the last 13 years), but there’s no doubt that it’s quite ironic.
Regarding social media and “…the wild way this algorithm amplifies and forces negativity upon you…”
Absolutely, 100%. I’ve been saying this for years. The social media algorithmic manipulation of the populace is a travesty. The way it creates massive misrepresentation, promotes misinformation, and exploits and distorts reality is problematic and I don’t know why we as a society continue to feed the beast.
I played Mafia The Definitive Edition a couple months ago. It was my first experience with the series. I liked it alright, like 7/10 level of like. Nothing life changing. It would have been nice to have the full PS5 visual and performance that this is bringing but honestly some of my issues with the game were more from the antiquated gameplay and game flow rather than how it looked or performed. I’m sure back in its release timeframe (PS2? I think) it was great but there are parts that feel a little dated when played through a modern lens.
A very good month, indeed. I won’t make it to KCD2 anytime soon because I’ve yet to play the first, but I have some curiosity about Hell is Us. I might even try the much lauded Helldivers 2 but it’s not my usual cup o’ tea. Been meaning to get into the Metro series for a while. I played a small amount of Vampire Survivors on my phone, so maybe I’d like it better on console. It’s nice to have options if I want to try any of these in the coming months.
@Ravix I’m allergic to online games as a general rule, regardless of the critical score. Props to the dev team though because it does look like quite a laugh, even though the scores might be suspect (😜)
In all seriousness though, this seems to be tapping into the Rocket League energy whereby giving the game on PS Plus probably helped increase the awareness and paradoxically boosted sales. It will be interesting to see if the game has legs to stick around in the public consciousness
Paying this Ultimate Edition tax seems more justifiable than most. The description of what you get for $20 seems like a significant addition. I see a lot of Deluxe Editions that are $10 more and only have a digital art book or perhaps one extra cosmetic item. As a value proposition I can’t fault Rockstar for pushing the envelope of pricing. Unfortunately many other publishers will see this as a green light to raise the prices of their less robust games. I won’t be surprised if most PS6 AAA games are $90-100.
Ah… the blissful ignorance of the wealthy and powerful….
“game discs just don't really make sense for the consumer.”
What?!? I think he meant to say “for the publisher”
“Also, most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you're already connected, who cares if you download digitally? It's all the same and it's much more convenient.”
Oh wow… missing the point entirely. He obviously doesn’t read the comments and threads on enthusiast websites! I don’t even know where to begin for the whole case in point from the consumer’s perspective.
@Jaxx420 Yeah, Amazon Prime came to mind. I don’t know if they changed things based on negative feedback, but it feels like the ads are not very intrusive lately. I watched the whole Project Hail Mary and don’t recall any interruptions once I started it. Maybe I’m accidentally paying for the no-ad tier. 😅
It absolutely depends on how hard they push it. After years of paying the full sub fees for Disney+ and Hulu I went down to the cheaper sub with ads and now I rarely use those services anymore because the ads are excessive. It’s drained any interest in their content that I once had and my time is too valuable to spend with constant interruptions which make a 25 minute show into a 35 minute show. I’ll just do something else instead.
First I’ll say that squeezing its most loyal customers to subsidize the rest of the player base is such an awful idea. That said, if I’m keeping an open mind and not knee jerk reacting, I think there’s ways to implement advertising which might actually benefit those of us who are the core user base. I could envision that the free-to-play games would have periodic ads in them like mobile games do. And then perhaps purchasing a game or paying a subscription would remove those ads. To this point the DLC microtransactions have served to monetize the games and I was under the impression that they made good money but if Sony needs more of a cut then maybe they go that route with putting an advertisement there while a F2P game launches.
Another scenario I wouldn’t immediately recoil at would be if they gave a discount to PS+ for a subscription that included some form of advertising. So maybe I have to watch a 1 minute commercial every time I launch a PS+ catalog game, but my sub fee is 20% discounted. Something like that. Maybe there could be a built-in reward system for watching ads where one could get store credit.
Unfortunately, I doubt this will result in discounts or rewards, but rather they’ll use the existing sub prices intact and just ask for even more if you want to avoid ads.
@cainhurst94 Yeah, I mean, it does look nice, but I kept waiting for her to say something else, curious to see if the lip syncing was going to be any good. And it looked like she had something to say, right on the tip of her tongue, but then all we get is her breathing and then backing away. 😅
Interesting choice for that promotional video. 30 seconds of a close up of the lady’s face, staring at the camera. Uh, I guess it’s supposed to make the game seem mysterious and inspire curiosity about the forthcoming trailer, but it just felt awkward.
Really wonderful video Aaron! I really agree with a lot of the game excellent worlds that have been mentioned.
A few others that I’ll add which came to mind:
The world of Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West — so clever with the melding of ancient/historical and futuristic components. The imaginative nature of how a simple tribal culture would co-exist and be layered in with a time in the far future where robot animals, AI, clones, space ships, computers, all of which are both ‘ancient tech’ in the far flung future but also futuristic and magical since the people are essentially living like citizens of some Neolithic era. It’s an incredibly unique setup which is unmatched despite oodles of other post-apocalyptic game settings.
Nobody Wants to Die - unfortunately the game itself was disappointing, I think the futuristic noir setting (seems possibly Blade Runner inspired) was a great world to play in.
Bloodborne - this game’s excellent Lovecraftian horror setting of Yharnam speaks for itself
Returnal Biome 4 (I forget the name of the level) - this is the one where the music crescendos through the level as you make your way to the boss and it’s the most memorable setting in a game filled with great game worlds
And finally, The Order 1886 - the long forgotten Ready at Dawn game that has such an awesome steampunk alternate history backdrop of London with references to a variant version of the legendary Knights of the Round, werewolf and vampire lore, as well as actual events and characters like Jack the Ripper and the Industrial Revolution. This game world had some real squandered potential.
Really great article and all are solid points. It confounds me that when I turn on my PS5 I am inundated by ads for gatcha games, Fortnite, FIFA, and COD releases which have never once downloaded or purchased anything remotely related to any of these and yet I have to search like a spelunker to find some of the games I actually want to buy or wishlist.
But yeah, for me the resell of a digital game would be such a fantastic idea. I also like the idea of better competitive pricing and sales, and the rewards loyalty program.
@lindos I recall having some freedom to approach the missions with some variance. It’s been a while since I played it so my memory may be a little off, but I recall there being more than one place you can go sometimes and there was little emergent activities that would pop up and you had the option to chase down if you wanted. Missions were scripted in certain orders but a few things could be done in whatever order you wanted, and there was some openness to how you wandered around The Oldest House (I certainly remember getting lost in it a fair few times). I think some of the missions and areas were optional, if I’m not mistaken, but maybe I’m wrong. I recall for example that I played the 2 DLC’s without even knowing they were the DLC until later, as they could be just mixed in during the course of exploration optionally.
It was definitely more linear than say, Ghost of Tsushima or something with a true open world, but I don’t think it was as linear as a Resident Evil or even an Uncharted or a BioShock. Maybe it felt more open to me because the narrative was less concrete and left a lot more for a wandering interpretation.
Actually 30-50 hours doesn’t seem very long to me. I think with the ballooning play times nowadays that’s fairly average for a AAA that’s has any kind of open map or exploration involved. Horror and very linear experiences are still in that 15-20 hour range sometimes, but those are becoming more rare
Yes, as noted by @themightyant @DzarkGaz @RobN the math represented is a tad misleading. 60% of the market didn’t even have physical as an option. 😂 It doesn’t reflect player preference when PC can buy the game either digitally, or… umm, digitally. Guess what? They chose to buy it digitally! 😆
And want to buy RE2 remake? There’s no new discs being printed so 100% of sales are digital after the launch period.
It’s all the illusion of choice. I’m not arguing the definitive and increasing slant toward digital, mind. But come on…. 93% of game sales being physical is like saying 93% of shoes sold are white when 60% of stores in town only stock white shoes, whilst the other 40% stock both white and black.
I’ll give the guy props for responding with more meaningful data in response to people poking holes in his first social media post. (I wish Sony would do this). It now paints a much clearer picture.
I still find it an odd comparison of 2008 to 2026 in the sense that the digital and online infrastructure was archaic in 2008 and so of course digital was an unpopular choice. My memory isn’t long enough to know when reliable internet became the norm, but the PS3 era was not very digital at all. Did the Wii even have online capabilities? I can’t remember.
It’s interesting to see 2014 versus 2015. I think we can learn something from that, as it shows the graph goes down, but then goes back up. You can probably attribute it to the quality of the games that came out in those two years.
@GameCollector84 Ah, yes — I wasn’t aware of the name of the specific fallacy but after looking it up, “The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” seems to fit. Thanks for that. 😄 I like learning these logic fallacies. It’s crazy how often people and even large corporations fall for them. This particular bit of data manipulation from Piscatella is probably more about snatching a headline and generating clicks or buzz though. In the case of Sony, one would hope they have a more sophisticated data analytics team, and have not been forthcoming with granular data because they have other motives for killing physical media. It seems pretty clear from the online dumpster fire that whatever small numbers they have attributed to physical sales is not telling the whole story. Do we really think that it’s that tiny of a group of people who liked having physical disc options? The internet outrage would suggest otherwise.
I think another part of the misinterpretation of the sales data is this assumption that a specific consumer buys only physical or only digital, where I think the majority of people do both. So if game A only sells 100k copies physical out of a million, some of those 900K people who bought game A digitally also bought game B on disc. Now you’ve not only ruffled the feathers of the original 100K people, but some of those 900K people who are your digital customers also. I don’t know if we have data on what’s the total number of players who have bought at least one game disc on PS5, but I reckon it’s pretty high. A very large percentage of the player base if affected by this move, and simply saying that only 1000 copies of game X sold physically in one market over one week is just not really telling the whole impact.
I concede that physical media sales are low, but this data is not really all that meaningful. “Only 7 games sold over 100K in the U.S. over the last 6 months.” That’s fairly manipulative wording with veiled data. He’s picking a lower number and lumping the top 7 selling games into a category quantified by the 7th best selling game.
I’m not sure if he’s doing it on purpose to hide the real numbers or whether he’s just that unaware of how numbers work. I mean, it really depends how far “over 100K” these titles sold. Presumably #7 on the list sold right at 100K. That’s a given. #6 sold more than that. #5 sold even more than that. #4 sold even more, and so on…
With what he said for all we know the #1 selling game sold 1 million copies physically in the U.S., over merely 6 months. I don’t think it’s that high, but it could be 500k for all we know? What if he would have said:
“Over 1 million new PS5 games were sold on disc in the U.S. in just 6 months” That sounds like a lot more of a piece of the pie. This is data on just one market (albeit the largest) and for only half a year. And it sounds like it’s easily over a million copies of games, if not much more.
Nice. This is awesome. I’ve felt for a while that this is likely to be a rare occurrence nowadays with the long development cycles and high risk. Glad to see that they have confidence and a roadmap to do this, a PS3 era mechanic.
I’m sad mainly because it’s never good when someone is struggling with their health to the degree they have to step down from a project, so for that reason alone it’s unfortunate.
For selfish reasons I’m also disappointed because this is one of my most anticipated games and surely this means significant delays. I thought the game was much closer to release than this.
Yikes! Not sure this is a tactic that makes sense, as I’m concerned about ill effects on the developer.
There was a similar example in sports not too long ago where the team’s general manager made a trade decision that the fanbase didn’t like and the fans booed and chanted incessantly during games such that it affected the team’s performance and was a huge distraction so the owner finally fired the GM so that the team could just move on. It worked there, so maybe this can work too since now indie and partner studios are getting caught in the crossfire. And even innocent bystanders like Push Square!
@RobN Yes, the question is: What is the appropriate tipping point for “cutting off the tail”? Every new technology replaces an old one, but we don’t jump into the future right away until the populace is ready, the infrastructure is built, the legislation is prepared, and the economy can handle it. There’s a parallel discussion we keep having around these parts about AI assisted game development. It’s a similar issue. Just because something is the future doesn’t mean we need to do it yet.
I don’t believe that Sony are losing money on discs now. I don’t think there’s a rush or urgency to stop discs from that standpoint. I realize they are trying to get in front of it to avoid future losses, but based on Sony’s track record for have no clue about predicting gaming trends, despite them having all the data they clearly have shown they are horrible at strategizing certain trends. Billions of dollars poorly spent on things that were really, really bad ideas. So I don’t have faith in their bean counters’ data analysis.
@Fiendish-Beaver As an advocate for the continuation of physical media, I actually think your idea of charging extra for physical is a reasonable compromise. Like @ShadowRJ says, I’m not sure the cost and profitability effects are quite what people claim, but the concept of paying more for a disc is something I could swallow. It would solve some of the issues of manufacturing costs, and it would also accelerate the natural move toward the digital future, but would be less of a force feed approach. I think we’d see the second hand market start to dry up and people would simply just migrate over time. The enthusiasts would still pay for their discs though, and so most people would be satisfied. There’s many people who still buy Deluxe editions, collector’s editions, and extra fees for early access, so clearly the extra tax on physical is just one step further and people will pay it.
As you mention, an even better compromise would be a slight bump in price for a disc and a concurrent slight discount for digital. That would go over quite well, I think. So for example maybe I can buy Intergalactic for $85 on disc, but I can get it for $60 digitally. And maybe the digital copy has 3 days early access or something. There’s a lot of ways this could have been rolled out and avoided this dumpster fire.
I think the camp that is not bothered by this move is of the mindset that “the digital future is inevitable and that we should just embrace the future… why stay stuck in the past… leave the Stone Age and join the Bronze,” etc., assuming that because something is the future that one should abandon the present. It doesn’t always work that way. We see it right now with the automobile industry, and the way things are headed, sure electric cars are the future. Many wish to give up fuel powered cars, but these things have to go in stages and there’s a timeline that fits for technology. At times when people try to force change too quickly, it can cause good ideas to fail. There’s a sociology to it all that goes beyond numbers and spreadsheets. (Artificial intelligence would be another example of this social phenomenon too, imo) In a vacuum one decision might make sense (like electric cars should replace gasoline powered cars) but we don’t live in a vacuum.
Obviously this little issue is a microcosm, not on the order of automobiles (or stone tools, as I’ve seen mentioned). It’s more on the order of Betamax, Google glass, or other small things that were before their time but failed. The adoption of digital media is certainly a smaller scale. But just because it makes sense for the world to do something a certain way doesn’t mean that the actual people it affects will tolerate it or like it. And in the most extreme examples, the push back for forcing a population too quickly will actually backfire and hamper progress rather than press it forward. I think that’s what happened in 2013 with Xbox being too ahead of the times and it ruined them. It also happened to electric cars as well, back in the 90’s. We could have had electric cars way sooner but the rollout failed (for various reasons) and set us back 30 years.
And to be clear — I don’t think this decision by Sony will kill the company or gaming in general, but I do think the timing and rollout has been absolutely abysmal. The evidence of that is right in front of us with the outrage. In an alternate timeline, this could have been handled deftly and the gamers could have even embraced the concept of throwing their discs away over time. Instead we have this.
@Oram77 In one of the articles Sammy mentioned (and I’m totally paraphrasing here and throwing in my own thoughts) that since there’s been a natural trend toward digital over the last several years and the market is moving that way on its own and so the argument could be made that the move toward digital would occur over time anyway at the current trajectory, so why accelerate and cause all this kerfuffle? “Sony doesn’t need to force what’s naturally occurring” was the quote I think.
It was going to happening on its own. Now they’ve just made themselves the bad guy and irreparably damaged longstanding loyalty. If the analysts are all correct, digital would continue to grow and squeeze out physical anyway.
As far as when is the time to pull the plug on manufacturing then? Well, based on the firestorm created I do agree it was too soon. And we wouldn’t need to guess and predict a day for it happen because the market would determine that day over time.
@Wormwood23 Although @Bizzy gave some well informed responses, I couldn’t help but notice this: “Sony has done their due diligence… They knew all of this was coming long ago and have full predictive models guiding their decisions... It's all… in the strategic plan.”
😂 Hopefully not the same executive strategic decision makers who bought Bungie for $3.6 billion, bought Firewalk studio and then closed it a year later and spent millions on Concord, bought and closed Neon Koi two years later without releasing a game, bought and then closed Bluepoint before it could release a game as a first party, has had 9 of 12 major live service projects either fail spectacularly or be shut down and never released, billions and billions of dollars flushed into nothingness….
Forgive me if I have lost faith in Sony’s ability to “do their maths” and have “good predictive models.”
In my opinion this is better than nothing. Obviously my preference would be to keep the option of having a tangible transferable and playable disc, but if that’s not going to happen, a compromise whereby you can still use your discs to transfer to a digital license is better than nothing. It would lessen the blow of getting a digital only PS6 later on if you can have all your PS4 and PS5 library come with you into that console.
The issue is that according to a few users up there, Sony didn’t have the foresight to implement a unique identifier onto each disc like MS did, so for them to do the same is probably going to be tricky, if not impossible. As a further compromise we might get a special discount where you can get a digital copy of your game you have on disc for a small fee, similar to how they were charging for the cross-gen games $10 to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version. Doing this would suck but at least you don’t completely lose the ability to play that game. And for Sony, sure people could take advantage of the system and lend out their copy of Wolverine to 10 people who would use it to buy it digitally for $10 and so they lose out on some sales, but it’s a better PR move than shutting players out.
@Random_play05 Yeah, I figured Xbox might welcome the opportunity to take the heat off of their catastrophic layoffs and cancellations. I keep thinking about how deftly Sony responded to the Xbox One DRM debacle in 2013 with that Shuhei video handing the disc over and it single-handedly turned a tide of an outraged public opinion toward PlayStation. This would be a similar opportunity for Xbox to clown on Sony and win player support
There’s a lot of people who seem to have a lot of conviction and I have no doubt there will be PlayStation fans who abandon the platform in favor of something else like PC.
There’s also a lot of people commenting who seem to have a crystal ball and know better than the polls and comments and are prognosticating that no one will leave.
The reality will probably be something in between. I have no doubt that gamers who are already on the fence and have been considering PC will have been nudged by recent events to abandon PS.
We shall see. Market forces will dictate things going forward. I mentioned elsewhere that Nintendo and Xbox have a real opportunity here. Sony are handing them a break on a silver platter. If I’m not mistaken the new Xbox is supposed to have Steam and other storefronts built in, or maybe I’m misremembering. I haven’t followed it that closely. But they ought to market that like crazy, and the physical to digital ownership model and the refund policies and other customer friendly aspects they have going on with their digital storefronts. Perhaps they will, but the fact Xbox doesn’t seem to have tried to capitalize and kick Sony while it’s down means that maybe they know Sony has some similar digital store modifications that it’s about to counter with to put some salve on this wound.
And I suspect Sony is probably putting together some adjustment to try and compromise with the players, like offering better refund policies or maybe the physical to digital ownership model. I sure hope so. Otherwise, I don’t know that I’ll jump into PS6 right away. Not because of a boycott or anything like that, necessarily, but because it just doesn’t feel like the same ecosystem to me with the way things are going and honestly I have an enormous backlog of PS5 and still some PS4 games that can keep me busy for at least 5 years. By then, hopefully the dust will have settled on all this madness.
There’s a decent chance that the other market forces will do more than the petitions and boycotts. I expect (and hope for, honestly) pressure and competition from the PC storefronts, Xbox, and Nintendo, all of which already have things in place that are more attractive than Sony’s PS store and its lack of competition, lack refunds, poor security, glitchy network, and spotty customer service. If I were Xbox, I’d be smelling blood in the water and come up with a promotional video akin to the 2013 Shuhei Yoshida ad and show some kind of quick jab about the Xbox store that could go viral in a similar way. I don’t think Xbox will bring back discs but I think they have something already about an owned disc converting into an owned digital copy, or something like that. If Xbox were smart, they’d take advantage. Especially since it could take the eyes off if their poor PR currently due to layoffs
I’m thinking amount it. If my 2024 self saw me say this, then he’d blow his lid, but I’ve started to think seriously about it after the last few PlayStation debacles. Closing BluePoint and killing physical games are the things that have stung the most.
Considering PC feels dirty, but I’m now open more and more. And this from me, the PlayStation apologist extraordinaire.
Honestly, what might happen is I just stick with my PS5 Pro for several more years. I have an enormous backlog, and I will have the freedom and choice to peck away at that backlog (which will include many more games over the next year and a half) with both discs and digital libraries. There’s so many good games on my list right now, it should carry me for 4-5 more years easily. By then I can circle back and play the classics again. My PS5 can likely take me to the grave.
@CheesyOatcake Ah yes, I love a large nicely well-organized bookstore! The feel and smell of a new book is all part of the satisfaction.
Sadly, B&N stores are not as common as they were before Amazon and e-books, but the ones that survived are the really large ones and there’s definitely a market for them still. I have discovered many books simply through browsing B&N and picking them up and scanning over them. Some I never would have found through a digital only storefront. I know gaming is not the exact same, but there’s definitely similarities.
As for the Portal, yes I’m a big fan of it also, even though I don’t travel often. It’s still a nice option for lounging in the bed and I actually prefer cloud streaming to remote play streaming. And that’s an example of a reason I’ve bought a couple games lately digitally instead of (or in addition to) buying them on disc — I want to have the ability to cloud stream them. Big AAA highlight games that I know I don’t want to cloud stream I will often purchase physically though, if the price is better.
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Re: Microsoft Confirms Xbox Disc-to-Digital Program in the Wake of Sony Decision to End PlayStation Discs
@Krlozgod I do remember the cross-buy feature for some games where buying either the console version or the Vita version automatically opened access to the other version. I’m not sure about the technical details but I have a suspicion that those titles were specifically prepared to make that system work. I don’t think all games had the disc manufactured to be uniquely identified. I could be wrong though.
But you bring up a good example of a nostalgic initiative from years past where Sony really was customer-focused and had cross-buy as an incentive to engage with their ecosystem. You basically got two copies of the game for the price of one. Not all game had the feature, and I do remember having PS3 games where I bought both the console version and the Vita version as two separate licenses, but indeed some games the other version came free.
Even if there’s not a unique identifier on each disc, perhaps there’s a way to still make disc-to-digital work. Like I say, I’m not technically savvy (that’s why I like playing on console instead of PC). It’s a completely different issue but I remember how PlayStation had trouble working out the ability to change your PSN ID. Apparently Sony tied your account to the actual name you create when you open your account and so changing it was felt impossible, whereas on Xbox, Microsoft tied your account to a linked numerical identifier and your name was just what showed and so it was easy to switch the name that linked to your account number. So Xbox always had the ability to change your online ID name easily, but it took Sony a long time to figure a workaround to be able to change your name and yet not lose access to your whole account because it was linked to that specific name. They finally figured it out though. I have no idea if this disc issue could be similarly solved by the programmers.
Re: Microsoft Confirms Xbox Disc-to-Digital Program in the Wake of Sony Decision to End PlayStation Discs
@CielloArc @8th_Observer Yes, indeed. In my humble and simple opinion, as someone who just buys their games and products, I think one of the largest missteps to this whole debacle is that Sony dropped a bomb and then just ran for cover with no further explanation. It would have gone over much better (not good, but better) to say “we’re stopping disc production in a year and a half and this is how we are going to make our services even better for you the customer… “ and then fill in with info of some positive improvements, like maybe this disc to digital, competitive pricing or price reductions, enhanced store features like refunds or exchanges, game preservation, improved digital rights, added competitor storefronts, options for physical game collectors, the options for people with physical PS4/PS5 libraries to carry forward to PS6 and how/if it will be back compatible, the shaky infrastructure of the PSN and security lately and how that will be improved, etc.
Obviously they don’t need to address all these things in the announcement but even just tossing us a bone to say “we’re ceasing discs in 2028 but we have some great improvements and enhanced options for our dedicated fans coming up for the PSN. More info soon”. But we didn’t even get that. They only gave us the bad news and the went on media silence. Meanwhile Xbox is laying out a better plan for the all-digital future.
Re: Microsoft Confirms Xbox Disc-to-Digital Program in the Wake of Sony Decision to End PlayStation Discs
It would go a long way to repairing the fan outrage if Sony has something similar, but my understanding is that Xbox disc have unique identifiers included on each disc whereas Sony never did that with theirs. So I don’t know how easy it would be to implement this without the risk of the system being taken advantage of. 🤞🏼 Here’s hoping!
Re: This Promising PS5 Indie Doesn't Deserve Being Buried in Next Month's Crowded Release Calendar
@GirlVersusGame @Ravix @Tjuz @Werehog Happy day, happy day! I have a release date!
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@LogicStrikesAgain Yes indeed, WSJ is a financial publication. So I can allow for some “corporate speak” to be taken out of context with the interview, and if this was an isolated incident then it would probably be swept under the rug. Unfortunately Sony are under the microscope now though, after disc-gate, layoffs, billion dollar mistakes, cancellations, rising prices, and general controversy about their corporate strategies. So everything will be magnified.
And even though he’s speaking to a closed peer group of business people, it’s a small peek behind the curtain of how the decision makers really feel. Kind of like when you’re with your buddies chatting at the pub people might say something offensive that they’d never say in public, and yet it’s a window into maybe how they really feel. 😅
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@LogicStrikesAgain Honestly I don’t think the lay public “know how businesses work”, at least beyond the surface level. And I don’t necessarily think companies should expect them to. It’s literally why a public relations department exists. To, well… relate to the public.
And in fairness, as has been mentioned by someone else, the interview in the Wall Street Journal wasn’t meant to be consumed by the lay public, but I think a CEO needs to be prepared for content to permeate downward.
And I do think it’s not Mr. Totoki’s job to be a PR expert, but when the average hourly wage earner out in the mines reads about “monetizing the user”, as if the customer is an object to be manipulated, it does come across as a tad… offensive. Again, I know CEO’s don’t have time (or the talent) to be in touch with the commoner and the end user who is being trivialized from being a valued person who supports the brand to simply… a number to be exploited or schemed. So, as many things with Sony lately, it’s an issue of poor communication. Although I do still feel like it’s telling, in the context of all the other stumblings of late, that there’s been such a loss of connection to the players and an inept reputation management.
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@GirlVersusGame Personally I enjoy these discussions, mainly because Push has users from across the globe with various backgrounds and we all bring a slightly different perspective, even if in the end we’re all gamers with a common love for the craft.
When economics and politics get mixed in, things get complicated. Because as you say, I also think/thought the games industry (like most artistic endeavors like music, art, literature) is, at its core, people “happy doing something they love” and so we can only hope that those convictions and principles diffuse into the corporate suite from time to time. Because yes, economics and livelihood are what make the world go round but art and culture are what make life worthwhile.
I’ll be on the forums as well!
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@GirlVersusGame That’s very interesting and I appreciate what you’re saying.
I guess I just have issue with what @ButteredCrumpet and several other of the more pragmatic users have said in looking at the situation through a unipolar lens of “all successful companies don’t actually care about their product or their customer.” And that making more money at all costs is the only driver for their actions. Or like you say, that all corporations are basically glorified drug dealers, essentially.
I think such a philosophy ignores the B-corporations and philanthropic purpose-driven organizations like Costco, Patagonia, and of course, Newman’s Own (which I’ve learned is quite a unique company that I need to support more).
Being nice to your customers and being successful are not mutually exclusive. Altruism and good customer service can be used as an economic asset and be a means to empower your company. The pessimistic view that Crumpet and others are saying (if I’m interpreting them correctly) is that even companies that treat you well with good PR are only manipulating you for their selfish gain. Can an action be genuinely kind and considerate if doing it makes an organization more successful? I would argue yes. An individual who enjoys being generous doesn’t thereby become less generous. Likewise, a corporation can have a business model where virtue and competitive advantage reinforce each other.
The alternative viewpoint is that there is no viable institutional structure in which an organization can be both extremely successful and also genuinely oriented toward being humane. That is a depressing thought, and I think at that point we all have to look around and say, “Well then what’s the point?” , teleologically speaking. It’s baffling to me that we’ve all been trained to just accept the fact that we’re supposed to be slaves for the machine and there’s no alternative outcome.
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@ButteredCrumpet Yikes! That’s a dismal commentary on our existence as human beings. I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I have been clinging to a semblance of faith in the decency of people, and by extension the institutions they create. This may be why I’m not a millionaire. If you’re right, then there are no virtuous millionaires. No one finds joy or satisfaction by doing the right thing for the right reason anymore. It’s all about lying and manipulating others for self gain. I think that’s what you’re saying are your observations of the corporate world. Aren’t there any artists, creatives, philanthropists, or altruists out there who are honest and still make money? “The customer is always right” is an antiquated way to run a business?
Re: 'We Don't Need to Aggressively Sell the Console': Sony CEO Says Timing of Memory Crisis Is 'Lucky' for PS5
@ButteredCrumpet “I must admit, people have claimed they desire Sony and their PlayStation brand to be a lot more transparent of late, well, here we are now, realising why many companies prefer to either be fake or silent.”
Option 1) Inconsiderate, tactless, and brutally honest, option 2) fake, option 3) silent…. Well, there is an option 4. How about having a little discernment, understanding, and graciousness toward the customer. 😅
I think a company can be transparent and still not come across as ruthless and objectifying to their clientele.
Re: Opinion: Hermen Hulst Has Failed and PS Studios Needs a Change
Unfortunately I have to agree with a lot of this article. Sony first party has underperformed the last few years, and many years and many dollars have been wasted in empty pursuits.
This is at the core of why I’ve lost faith in the executive decision making. I completely understand that people make mistakes from time to time, but this has been a series of poor decisions and poor management, billions of dollars, thousands of employees livelihoods.
When people tell me that Sony knows what they’re doing with cutting off physical media, these drastic game development missteps with live service are what I point to as the major reason that I cannot have faith in the upper leadership to know the gaming industry and what players want. How can I trust that there’s any sense among them? It seems like basic common sense is all but gone. I’m not sure they know how to read and interpret gaming trends.
Re: 'I Don't Understand If It's Such a Big Issue': Shuhei Yoshida Isn't Too Bothered About No More Discs
@get2sammyb @AdamNovice It has been 13 years and true that the industry has changed since the disc-sharing video he was in, but still— that was an iconic moment and a direct troll on Xbox, and seemed like a major turning point for the PS4, XB1 generation. It’s just bitter irony that he says this after being part of that important and consequential ad. Sure, the guy is allowed to promote what he was trolling 13 years ago (I certainly have changed in the last 13 years), but there’s no doubt that it’s quite ironic.
Re: 6 Ways PS5's Tides of Annihilation Blew Me Away After 2 Hours of Play
I’ve had my eye on this one since the reveal. I find the Arthurian legend angle very interesting. Looking forward to more preview footage.
Re: 'It's a Relentless Onslaught': Wolverine PS5 Dev Responds to Unprecedented Criticism
Regarding social media and “…the wild way this algorithm amplifies and forces negativity upon you…”
Absolutely, 100%. I’ve been saying this for years. The social media algorithmic manipulation of the populace is a travesty. The way it creates massive misrepresentation, promotes misinformation, and exploits and distorts reality is problematic and I don’t know why we as a society continue to feed the beast.
Re: Mafia Remake Joins The Old Country on PS5 in Full Series Collection with 60FPS, Visual Upgrades
@GirlVersusGame No, I finished it on the default game setting. I don’t think I have any interest to put myself through any further torture 😅
Re: Mafia Remake Joins The Old Country on PS5 in Full Series Collection with 60FPS, Visual Upgrades
I played Mafia The Definitive Edition a couple months ago. It was my first experience with the series. I liked it alright, like 7/10 level of like. Nothing life changing. It would have been nice to have the full PS5 visual and performance that this is bringing but honestly some of my issues with the game were more from the antiquated gameplay and game flow rather than how it looked or performed. I’m sure back in its release timeframe (PS2? I think) it was great but there are parts that feel a little dated when played through a modern lens.
Re: 10 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for August 2026 Announced
A very good month, indeed. I won’t make it to KCD2 anytime soon because I’ve yet to play the first, but I have some curiosity about Hell is Us. I might even try the much lauded Helldivers 2 but it’s not my usual cup o’ tea. Been meaning to get into the Metro series for a while. I played a small amount of Vampire Survivors on my phone, so maybe I’d like it better on console.
It’s nice to have options if I want to try any of these in the coming months.
Re: 'A Must-Have Day One Purchase': You Only Need to Buy Control Resonant in September, Remedy Reckons
@Ravix A lock as a 10/10, baby!
Re: PS Plus' Big Walk Hits Big Sales, Surpasses 1 Million Copies Sold in Under a Week
@Ravix I’m allergic to online games as a general rule, regardless of the critical score. Props to the dev team though because it does look like quite a laugh, even though the scores might be suspect (😜)
In all seriousness though, this seems to be tapping into the Rocket League energy whereby giving the game on PS Plus probably helped increase the awareness and paradoxically boosted sales. It will be interesting to see if the game has legs to stick around in the public consciousness
Re: GTA 6's $100 PS5 Ultimate Edition Is Getting More Pre-Orders Than the Cheaper Version
Paying this Ultimate Edition tax seems more justifiable than most. The description of what you get for $20 seems like a significant addition. I see a lot of Deluxe Editions that are $10 more and only have a digital art book or perhaps one extra cosmetic item. As a value proposition I can’t fault Rockstar for pushing the envelope of pricing. Unfortunately many other publishers will see this as a green light to raise the prices of their less robust games. I won’t be surprised if most PS6 AAA games are $90-100.
Re: The Eternal Life of Goldman Still Stuns in Latest Trailer, But Where's the Release Date?
@Ravix Here’s hoping for a 2027 release date. It definitely needs some time in the oven to cook.
Re: 'Discs Don't Really Make Sense': GTA 6 Boss Says 'Sony Understands That' as It Kills Physical Games
Ah… the blissful ignorance of the wealthy and powerful….
“game discs just don't really make sense for the consumer.”
What?!? I think he meant to say “for the publisher”
“Also, most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you're already connected, who cares if you download digitally? It's all the same and it's much more convenient.”
Oh wow… missing the point entirely. He obviously doesn’t read the comments and threads on enthusiast websites! I don’t even know where to begin for the whole case in point from the consumer’s perspective.
Re: Sony's Looking to Bring More Ads to PlayStation, and Fans Won't Like It
@Jaxx420 Yeah, Amazon Prime came to mind. I don’t know if they changed things based on negative feedback, but it feels like the ads are not very intrusive lately. I watched the whole Project Hail Mary and don’t recall any interruptions once I started it. Maybe I’m accidentally paying for the no-ad tier. 😅
It absolutely depends on how hard they push it. After years of paying the full sub fees for Disney+ and Hulu I went down to the cheaper sub with ads and now I rarely use those services anymore because the ads are excessive. It’s drained any interest in their content that I once had and my time is too valuable to spend with constant interruptions which make a 25 minute show into a 35 minute show. I’ll just do something else instead.
Re: Sony's Looking to Bring More Ads to PlayStation, and Fans Won't Like It
First I’ll say that squeezing its most loyal customers to subsidize the rest of the player base is such an awful idea. That said, if I’m keeping an open mind and not knee jerk reacting, I think there’s ways to implement advertising which might actually benefit those of us who are the core user base. I could envision that the free-to-play games would have periodic ads in them like mobile games do. And then perhaps purchasing a game or paying a subscription would remove those ads. To this point the DLC microtransactions have served to monetize the games and I was under the impression that they made good money but if Sony needs more of a cut then maybe they go that route with putting an advertisement there while a F2P game launches.
Another scenario I wouldn’t immediately recoil at would be if they gave a discount to PS+ for a subscription that included some form of advertising. So maybe I have to watch a 1 minute commercial every time I launch a PS+ catalog game, but my sub fee is 20% discounted. Something like that. Maybe there could be a built-in reward system for watching ads where one could get store credit.
Unfortunately, I doubt this will result in discounts or rewards, but rather they’ll use the existing sub prices intact and just ask for even more if you want to avoid ads.
Re: Phantom Blade Zero's State of Play Seemingly Cancelled as Dev Teases Its Own PS5 Gameplay Showing
@cainhurst94 Yeah, I mean, it does look nice, but I kept waiting for her to say something else, curious to see if the lip syncing was going to be any good. And it looked like she had something to say, right on the tip of her tongue, but then all we get is her breathing and then backing away. 😅
Re: Phantom Blade Zero's State of Play Seemingly Cancelled as Dev Teases Its Own PS5 Gameplay Showing
Interesting choice for that promotional video. 30 seconds of a close up of the lady’s face, staring at the camera. Uh, I guess it’s supposed to make the game seem mysterious and inspire curiosity about the forthcoming trailer, but it just felt awkward.
Re: Video: What Are Your Favourite Video Game Worlds?
Really wonderful video Aaron! I really agree with a lot of the game excellent worlds that have been mentioned.
A few others that I’ll add which came to mind:
The world of Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West — so clever with the melding of ancient/historical and futuristic components. The imaginative nature of how a simple tribal culture would co-exist and be layered in with a time in the far future where robot animals, AI, clones, space ships, computers, all of which are both ‘ancient tech’ in the far flung future but also futuristic and magical since the people are essentially living like citizens of some Neolithic era. It’s an incredibly unique setup which is unmatched despite oodles of other post-apocalyptic game settings.
Nobody Wants to Die - unfortunately the game itself was disappointing, I think the futuristic noir setting (seems possibly Blade Runner inspired) was a great world to play in.
Bloodborne - this game’s excellent Lovecraftian horror setting of Yharnam speaks for itself
Returnal Biome 4 (I forget the name of the level) - this is the one where the music crescendos through the level as you make your way to the boss and it’s the most memorable setting in a game filled with great game worlds
And finally,
The Order 1886 - the long forgotten Ready at Dawn game that has such an awesome steampunk alternate history backdrop of London with references to a variant version of the legendary Knights of the Round, werewolf and vampire lore, as well as actual events and characters like Jack the Ripper and the Industrial Revolution. This game world had some real squandered potential.
Re: 8 Ways Sony Must Improve the PS Store for Our All-Digital Future
Really great article and all are solid points. It confounds me that when I turn on my PS5 I am inundated by ads for gatcha games, Fortnite, FIFA, and COD releases which have never once downloaded or purchased anything remotely related to any of these and yet I have to search like a spelunker to find some of the games I actually want to buy or wishlist.
But yeah, for me the resell of a digital game would be such a fantastic idea. I also like the idea of better competitive pricing and sales, and the rewards loyalty program.
Re: In the Busiest Gaming Month of the Year, PS5's Control Resonant Will Take Up a Lot of Your Time
@lindos I recall having some freedom to approach the missions with some variance. It’s been a while since I played it so my memory may be a little off, but I recall there being more than one place you can go sometimes and there was little emergent activities that would pop up and you had the option to chase down if you wanted. Missions were scripted in certain orders but a few things could be done in whatever order you wanted, and there was some openness to how you wandered around The Oldest House (I certainly remember getting lost in it a fair few times). I think some of the missions and areas were optional, if I’m not mistaken, but maybe I’m wrong. I recall for example that I played the 2 DLC’s without even knowing they were the DLC until later, as they could be just mixed in during the course of exploration optionally.
It was definitely more linear than say, Ghost of Tsushima or something with a true open world, but I don’t think it was as linear as a Resident Evil or even an Uncharted or a BioShock. Maybe it felt more open to me because the narrative was less concrete and left a lot more for a wandering interpretation.
Re: In the Busiest Gaming Month of the Year, PS5's Control Resonant Will Take Up a Lot of Your Time
Actually 30-50 hours doesn’t seem very long to me. I think with the ballooning play times nowadays that’s fairly average for a AAA that’s has any kind of open map or exploration involved. Horror and very linear experiences are still in that 15-20 hour range sometimes, but those are becoming more rare
Re: Amidst Sony's Disc Debacle, Capcom Sales Data Is a Brutal Reality Check for Fans of Physical Media
Yes, as noted by @themightyant @DzarkGaz @RobN the math represented is a tad misleading. 60% of the market didn’t even have physical as an option. 😂 It doesn’t reflect player preference when PC can buy the game either digitally, or… umm, digitally. Guess what? They chose to buy it digitally! 😆
And want to buy RE2 remake? There’s no new discs being printed so 100% of sales are digital after the launch period.
It’s all the illusion of choice. I’m not arguing the definitive and increasing slant toward digital, mind. But come on…. 93% of game sales being physical is like saying 93% of shoes sold are white when 60% of stores in town only stock white shoes, whilst the other 40% stock both white and black.
Re: Physical Game Fans Won't Like This New Data About US PS5 Sales
I’ll give the guy props for responding with more meaningful data in response to people poking holes in his first social media post. (I wish Sony would do this). It now paints a much clearer picture.
I still find it an odd comparison of 2008 to 2026 in the sense that the digital and online infrastructure was archaic in 2008 and so of course digital was an unpopular choice. My memory isn’t long enough to know when reliable internet became the norm, but the PS3 era was not very digital at all. Did the Wii even have online capabilities? I can’t remember.
It’s interesting to see 2014 versus 2015. I think we can learn something from that, as it shows the graph goes down, but then goes back up. You can probably attribute it to the quality of the games that came out in those two years.
Re: Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA, UK
@GameCollector84 Ah, yes — I wasn’t aware of the name of the specific fallacy but after looking it up, “The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” seems to fit. Thanks for that. 😄 I like learning these logic fallacies. It’s crazy how often people and even large corporations fall for them. This particular bit of data manipulation from Piscatella is probably more about snatching a headline and generating clicks or buzz though. In the case of Sony, one would hope they have a more sophisticated data analytics team, and have not been forthcoming with granular data because they have other motives for killing physical media. It seems pretty clear from the online dumpster fire that whatever small numbers they have attributed to physical sales is not telling the whole story. Do we really think that it’s that tiny of a group of people who liked having physical disc options? The internet outrage would suggest otherwise.
I think another part of the misinterpretation of the sales data is this assumption that a specific consumer buys only physical or only digital, where I think the majority of people do both. So if game A only sells 100k copies physical out of a million, some of those 900K people who bought game A digitally also bought game B on disc. Now you’ve not only ruffled the feathers of the original 100K people, but some of those 900K people who are your digital customers also. I don’t know if we have data on what’s the total number of players who have bought at least one game disc on PS5, but I reckon it’s pretty high. A very large percentage of the player base if affected by this move, and simply saying that only 1000 copies of game X sold physically in one market over one week is just not really telling the whole impact.
Re: Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA
I concede that physical media sales are low, but this data is not really all that meaningful. “Only 7 games sold over 100K in the U.S. over the last 6 months.” That’s fairly manipulative wording with veiled data. He’s picking a lower number and lumping the top 7 selling games into a category quantified by the 7th best selling game.
I’m not sure if he’s doing it on purpose to hide the real numbers or whether he’s just that unaware of how numbers work. I mean, it really depends how far “over 100K” these titles sold. Presumably #7 on the list sold right at 100K. That’s a given. #6 sold more than that. #5 sold even more than that. #4 sold even more, and so on…
With what he said for all we know the #1 selling game sold 1 million copies physically in the U.S., over merely 6 months. I don’t think it’s that high, but it could be 500k for all we know? What if he would have said:
“Over 1 million new PS5 games were sold on disc in the U.S. in just 6 months” That sounds like a lot more of a piece of the pie. This is data on just one market (albeit the largest) and for only half a year. And it sounds like it’s easily over a million copies of games, if not much more.
Re: Promising PS5 RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker Pulls a Mass Effect with Save Data Transfers to Future Games
Nice. This is awesome. I’ve felt for a while that this is likely to be a rare occurrence nowadays with the long development cycles and high risk. Glad to see that they have confidence and a roadmap to do this, a PS3 era mechanic.
Re: 'I Need to Take Time to Reset': Award-Winning Actress Leaves One of PS5's Most Promising Games
I’m sad mainly because it’s never good when someone is struggling with their health to the degree they have to step down from a project, so for that reason alone it’s unfortunate.
For selfish reasons I’m also disappointed because this is one of my most anticipated games and surely this means significant delays. I thought the game was much closer to release than this.
Re: Irate PlayStation Fans Want You to Buy Games Anywhere But PS5
Yikes! Not sure this is a tactic that makes sense, as I’m concerned about ill effects on the developer.
There was a similar example in sports not too long ago where the team’s general manager made a trade decision that the fanbase didn’t like and the fans booed and chanted incessantly during games such that it affected the team’s performance and was a huge distraction so the owner finally fired the GM so that the team could just move on. It worked there, so maybe this can work too since now indie and partner studios are getting caught in the crossfire. And even innocent bystanders like Push Square!
Re: 'Millions of Gamers Value True Ownership': PS5, PS4 Represented Half of All UK Physical Game Revenue in 2025
@RobN Yes, the question is: What is the appropriate tipping point for “cutting off the tail”? Every new technology replaces an old one, but we don’t jump into the future right away until the populace is ready, the infrastructure is built, the legislation is prepared, and the economy can handle it. There’s a parallel discussion we keep having around these parts about AI assisted game development. It’s a similar issue. Just because something is the future doesn’t mean we need to do it yet.
I don’t believe that Sony are losing money on discs now. I don’t think there’s a rush or urgency to stop discs from that standpoint. I realize they are trying to get in front of it to avoid future losses, but based on Sony’s track record for have no clue about predicting gaming trends, despite them having all the data they clearly have shown they are horrible at strategizing certain trends. Billions of dollars poorly spent on things that were really, really bad ideas. So I don’t have faith in their bean counters’ data analysis.
Re: 9 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for July 2026 Announced
Nice. I’ve been considering Rise of the Ronin and Avatar.
Re: 'Millions of Gamers Value True Ownership': PS5, PS4 Represented Half of All UK Physical Game Revenue in 2025
@Fiendish-Beaver As an advocate for the continuation of physical media, I actually think your idea of charging extra for physical is a reasonable compromise. Like @ShadowRJ says, I’m not sure the cost and profitability effects are quite what people claim, but the concept of paying more for a disc is something I could swallow. It would solve some of the issues of manufacturing costs, and it would also accelerate the natural move toward the digital future, but would be less of a force feed approach. I think we’d see the second hand market start to dry up and people would simply just migrate over time. The enthusiasts would still pay for their discs though, and so most people would be satisfied. There’s many people who still buy Deluxe editions, collector’s editions, and extra fees for early access, so clearly the extra tax on physical is just one step further and people will pay it.
As you mention, an even better compromise would be a slight bump in price for a disc and a concurrent slight discount for digital. That would go over quite well, I think. So for example maybe I can buy Intergalactic for $85 on disc, but I can get it for $60 digitally. And maybe the digital copy has 3 days early access or something. There’s a lot of ways this could have been rolled out and avoided this dumpster fire.
Re: 'Millions of Gamers Value True Ownership': PS5, PS4 Represented Half of All UK Physical Game Revenue in 2025
@Oram77 Yup. It’s all about timing, buddy.
I think the camp that is not bothered by this move is of the mindset that “the digital future is inevitable and that we should just embrace the future… why stay stuck in the past… leave the Stone Age and join the Bronze,” etc., assuming that because something is the future that one should abandon the present. It doesn’t always work that way. We see it right now with the automobile industry, and the way things are headed, sure electric cars are the future. Many wish to give up fuel powered cars, but these things have to go in stages and there’s a timeline that fits for technology. At times when people try to force change too quickly, it can cause good ideas to fail. There’s a sociology to it all that goes beyond numbers and spreadsheets. (Artificial intelligence would be another example of this social phenomenon too, imo) In a vacuum one decision might make sense (like electric cars should replace gasoline powered cars) but we don’t live in a vacuum.
Obviously this little issue is a microcosm, not on the order of automobiles (or stone tools, as I’ve seen mentioned). It’s more on the order of Betamax, Google glass, or other small things that were before their time but failed. The adoption of digital media is certainly a smaller scale. But just because it makes sense for the world to do something a certain way doesn’t mean that the actual people it affects will tolerate it or like it. And in the most extreme examples, the push back for forcing a population too quickly will actually backfire and hamper progress rather than press it forward. I think that’s what happened in 2013 with Xbox being too ahead of the times and it ruined them. It also happened to electric cars as well, back in the 90’s. We could have had electric cars way sooner but the rollout failed (for various reasons) and set us back 30 years.
And to be clear — I don’t think this decision by Sony will kill the company or gaming in general, but I do think the timing and rollout has been absolutely abysmal. The evidence of that is right in front of us with the outrage. In an alternate timeline, this could have been handled deftly and the gamers could have even embraced the concept of throwing their discs away over time. Instead we have this.
Re: 'Millions of Gamers Value True Ownership': PS5, PS4 Represented Half of All UK Physical Game Revenue in 2025
@Oram77 In one of the articles Sammy mentioned (and I’m totally paraphrasing here and throwing in my own thoughts) that since there’s been a natural trend toward digital over the last several years and the market is moving that way on its own and so the argument could be made that the move toward digital would occur over time anyway at the current trajectory, so why accelerate and cause all this kerfuffle? “Sony doesn’t need to force what’s naturally occurring” was the quote I think.
It was going to happening on its own. Now they’ve just made themselves the bad guy and irreparably damaged longstanding loyalty. If the analysts are all correct, digital would continue to grow and squeeze out physical anyway.
As far as when is the time to pull the plug on manufacturing then? Well, based on the firestorm created I do agree it was too soon. And we wouldn’t need to guess and predict a day for it happen because the market would determine that day over time.
Re: Here Come the Lawsuits! Sony's Physical Disc Debacle Likely to Keep Its Lawyers Busy
@Wormwood23 Although @Bizzy gave some well informed responses, I couldn’t help but notice this:
“Sony has done their due diligence… They knew all of this was coming long ago and have full predictive models guiding their decisions... It's all… in the strategic plan.”
😂 Hopefully not the same executive strategic decision makers who bought Bungie for $3.6 billion, bought Firewalk studio and then closed it a year later and spent millions on Concord, bought and closed Neon Koi two years later without releasing a game, bought and then closed Bluepoint before it could release a game as a first party, has had 9 of 12 major live service projects either fail spectacularly or be shut down and never released, billions and billions of dollars flushed into nothingness….
Forgive me if I have lost faith in Sony’s ability to “do their maths” and have “good predictive models.”
Re: PS5's Physical Disc Debacle Will Attract More Anger if This Xbox Rumour Is True
In my opinion this is better than nothing. Obviously my preference would be to keep the option of having a tangible transferable and playable disc, but if that’s not going to happen, a compromise whereby you can still use your discs to transfer to a digital license is better than nothing. It would lessen the blow of getting a digital only PS6 later on if you can have all your PS4 and PS5 library come with you into that console.
The issue is that according to a few users up there, Sony didn’t have the foresight to implement a unique identifier onto each disc like MS did, so for them to do the same is probably going to be tricky, if not impossible. As a further compromise we might get a special discount where you can get a digital copy of your game you have on disc for a small fee, similar to how they were charging for the cross-gen games $10 to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version. Doing this would suck but at least you don’t completely lose the ability to play that game. And for Sony, sure people could take advantage of the system and lend out their copy of Wolverine to 10 people who would use it to buy it digitally for $10 and so they lose out on some sales, but it’s a better PR move than shutting players out.
Re: 'PS5 Has Put a Dampener on Gaming': 45% of Enthusiasts 'Seriously Considering' Leaving Sony for PC
@Random_play05 Yeah, I figured Xbox might welcome the opportunity to take the heat off of their catastrophic layoffs and cancellations. I keep thinking about how deftly Sony responded to the Xbox One DRM debacle in 2013 with that Shuhei video handing the disc over and it single-handedly turned a tide of an outraged public opinion toward PlayStation. This would be a similar opportunity for Xbox to clown on Sony and win player support
Re: 'PS5 Has Put a Dampener on Gaming': 45% of Enthusiasts 'Seriously Considering' Leaving Sony for PC
There’s a lot of people who seem to have a lot of conviction and I have no doubt there will be PlayStation fans who abandon the platform in favor of something else like PC.
There’s also a lot of people commenting who seem to have a crystal ball and know better than the polls and comments and are prognosticating that no one will leave.
The reality will probably be something in between. I have no doubt that gamers who are already on the fence and have been considering PC will have been nudged by recent events to abandon PS.
We shall see. Market forces will dictate things going forward. I mentioned elsewhere that Nintendo and Xbox have a real opportunity here. Sony are handing them a break on a silver platter. If I’m not mistaken the new Xbox is supposed to have Steam and other storefronts built in, or maybe I’m misremembering. I haven’t followed it that closely. But they ought to market that like crazy, and the physical to digital ownership model and the refund policies and other customer friendly aspects they have going on with their digital storefronts. Perhaps they will, but the fact Xbox doesn’t seem to have tried to capitalize and kick Sony while it’s down means that maybe they know Sony has some similar digital store modifications that it’s about to counter with to put some salve on this wound.
And I suspect Sony is probably putting together some adjustment to try and compromise with the players, like offering better refund policies or maybe the physical to digital ownership model. I sure hope so. Otherwise, I don’t know that I’ll jump into PS6 right away. Not because of a boycott or anything like that, necessarily, but because it just doesn’t feel like the same ecosystem to me with the way things are going and honestly I have an enormous backlog of PS5 and still some PS4 games that can keep me busy for at least 5 years. By then, hopefully the dust will have settled on all this madness.
Re: 'They Wait for This Storm to Pass': No Chance of Sony Walking Back Its Decision to Kill Discs, Warns Analyst
There’s a decent chance that the other market forces will do more than the petitions and boycotts. I expect (and hope for, honestly) pressure and competition from the PC storefronts, Xbox, and Nintendo, all of which already have things in place that are more attractive than Sony’s PS store and its lack of competition, lack refunds, poor security, glitchy network, and spotty customer service. If I were Xbox, I’d be smelling blood in the water and come up with a promotional video akin to the 2013 Shuhei Yoshida ad and show some kind of quick jab about the Xbox store that could go viral in a similar way. I don’t think Xbox will bring back discs but I think they have something already about an owned disc converting into an owned digital copy, or something like that. If Xbox were smart, they’d take advantage. Especially since it could take the eyes off if their poor PR currently due to layoffs
Re: Poll: Are You Considering Leaving PlayStation for PC?
I’m thinking amount it. If my 2024 self saw me say this, then he’d blow his lid, but I’ve started to think seriously about it after the last few PlayStation debacles. Closing BluePoint and killing physical games are the things that have stung the most.
Considering PC feels dirty, but I’m now open more and more. And this from me, the PlayStation apologist extraordinaire.
Honestly, what might happen is I just stick with my PS5 Pro for several more years. I have an enormous backlog, and I will have the freedom and choice to peck away at that backlog (which will include many more games over the next year and a half) with both discs and digital libraries. There’s so many good games on my list right now, it should carry me for 4-5 more years easily. By then I can circle back and play the classics again. My PS5 can likely take me to the grave.
Re: Reaction: Travelling the World Made Me Realise What PlayStation Is About to Lose
@GoodOlDubs Well said. I think your comment sums up a lot of my thoughts.
Re: Reaction: Travelling the World Made Me Realise What PlayStation Is About to Lose
@CheesyOatcake Ah yes, I love a large nicely well-organized bookstore! The feel and smell of a new book is all part of the satisfaction.
Sadly, B&N stores are not as common as they were before Amazon and e-books, but the ones that survived are the really large ones and there’s definitely a market for them still. I have discovered many books simply through browsing B&N and picking them up and scanning over them. Some I never would have found through a digital only storefront. I know gaming is not the exact same, but there’s definitely similarities.
As for the Portal, yes I’m a big fan of it also, even though I don’t travel often. It’s still a nice option for lounging in the bed and I actually prefer cloud streaming to remote play streaming. And that’s an example of a reason I’ve bought a couple games lately digitally instead of (or in addition to) buying them on disc — I want to have the ability to cloud stream them. Big AAA highlight games that I know I don’t want to cloud stream I will often purchase physically though, if the price is better.