Sony’s announcement that it will stop releasing games on discs beginning in 2028 will have implications for the PlayStation 6, according to one industry expert.
Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis said the decision to stop having PlayStation’s first-party games, along with titles from third-parties, printed on discs, “pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the soonest.”
He said this in an interview with Game File, in which he also predicted that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive.”
“Ampere’s current expectation is that the console will launch at the end of 2028,” he said of the PS6 (via VGC).
“Sony will be looking for all the ways it can reduce the cost of its next-gen console, and this is an easy win,” he added. “It’s possible that an add-on disc drive could be made available to play older PS4 and PS5 games on disc.”
Sony’s official announcement today about abandoning discs included no official details about the implications for the PS6. To be sure, Sony has not even officially announced the PS6 yet, and the system’s timeline could be impacted by the AI-fueled RAMageddon situation.
But why is Sony abandoning discs?
Game sales at Sony and other major game companies have been trending toward digital for years already. Sony’s latest sales data showed a record-breaking high figure for digital game sales.
According to Harding-Rolls, Sony going all-digital–for both first- and third-party games–will help “streamline the business of games retail” and help mitigate margin pressures to help improve the overall health and stability of PlayStation.
Printing discs and sharing revenue with physical retailers are costs that Sony and other companies bear. Going all digital “will help offset pressures on margins from other directions–development and staffing costs, for example,” Harding-Rolls said.
When the PS4 launched in 2013, the digital share of PlayStation games sold was estimated to be about 13%. In 2025, it was 80%, and that number is growing.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad said the announcement was “entirely a platform led decision that is designed to cut costs for Sony, eliminate resale / used markets, and drive 100% of revenue through the PlayStation Store.”
The writing had been on the wall for this announcement. Both Sony and Microsoft released versions of their flagship consoles in 2020 that did not include a disc drive, and Sony’s PS5 Pro doesn’t ship with one by default–it can still be added via a modular attachment.
Nintendo, meanwhile, launched a new Game-Key Card system with the Switch 2 in 2025 that put a download code in a box. Some Switch 2 cartridges include the full game, but not Game-Key Card titles like Hogwarts Legacy and Resident Evil Village, among numerous others.
Sony’s explanation
Sony’s official word is that it’s going all digital starting in 2028 in response to “shifting trends in consumer preference.”
“This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” it said. “This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today. “
GTA 6 also won’t be on a disc
Sony’s announcement came not long after Rockstar Games and Take-Two announced that GTA 6 will not be available on a disc. People can buy the game physically, but they will get a code in the box, not a disc. Neither Rockstar nor Take-Two have offered an explanation or defense for this decision, but it’s likely to do with the biggest reason of all: cutting costs to make more money.
Will Microsoft follow suit?
Microsoft has its own fair share of problems with Xbox at the moment, and many are wondering if Xbox will follow PlayStation and ditch disc-based games in the future. That remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
People still want and support disc-based games
Many people still buy disc-based games and prefer physical media. The news about GTA 6 going all-digital and now Sony’s decision to kill disc-based games is sure to be controversial, especially through the lens of game preservation.
Sony is not killing off discs because players stopped buying them–they still do. Almost 70 million PlayStation discs were sold last year, but that number has dropped off dramatically. Sony’s statement said the decision was about cutting costs and improving profit margins. Gaming is a business, after all, but that doesn’t make the news any less difficult to stomach for those who prefer physical media.
“Inevitably there will be concerns from PlayStation gamers around various aspects of this announcement including choice, accessing older physical games on new consoles, the ability to collect physical games, and game preservation, however the purchasing trends of gamers are clear,” Harding-Rolls added. “This is a watershed moment for the industry.”
Sony coupled the disc news with another painful announcement: it will close the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and PS Vita.
