PlayStation announces the end of disc games, starting in January 2028

Sony has announced that physical disc games will be discontinued for PlayStation consoles from January 2028.

Following this date, new games from all publishers will be available on the PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only, it said.

The transition to digital won’t affect games that have already been released, or will be released, prior to January 2028, in disc format.

Sony said: “As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028.”

It added: “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. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.

“We’ll continue to prioritize our resources to drive innovation in how players can access games and provide choices as to where players prefer to purchase new games, whether that’s at retailers or PlayStation Store. We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans, and we thank you for your continued support.”

Like most platforms, PlayStation’s game sales have been increasingly shifting to digital in recent years. In its latest business year, ended April 2026, Sony Interactive Entertainment reported that 78% of full-game sales were digital downloads.

In 2013, when Sony first began offering full game downloads with PlayStation 4, digital accounted for just 13% of sales, according to Ampere data.

PlayStation 5 was Sony’s first home game console to launch with a digital-only version. Then in 2023, it launched a redesigned console that came without a disc drive as standard, with users having to purchase an add-on to use physical games.

According to Circana data, in the US, as of the end of May 2026, 52% of Xbox Series and 27% of PlayStation 5 consoles sold do not include a disc drive.

Confirmation of PlayStation’s digital transition confirms PlayStation 6 won’t support discs for new games. It also suggests PS6 likely won’t arrive until after the January 2028 cut-off.

The shift to digital will further raise concerns about preservation in gaming, especially on a day when Sony also announced the closure of the PS3 and PS Vita digital stores.

A Sony spokesperson told Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.”

Regarding fears that PlayStation games could be lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.”

From SIE’s point of view, ditching physical media will allow it to reduce manufacturing costs and extract higher profit margins from downloads, at a time when prices have rocketed due to the component crisis.

According to Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls, an all-digital PlayStation could benefit the wider industry.

“If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” he told Game File. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.”

However, Nico Partners’ Daniel Ahmad commented that regardless of digital’s rising share of sales, “the decision to stop physical disc production at this point is 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.”

Confirmation of PlayStation’s all-digital future comes a week after Rockstar announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 will only be available digitally, and that the physical version of GTA VI will ship with a digital download code inside the box, instead of a disc.

Commenting on the news, The Game Business’s Chris Dring told VGC that the big losers would be games retailers, plus second-hand outlets like eBay and CEX. “They’ll need to focus on the secondary opportunities, like add-on items and hardware),” he said. “The winners are the PlayStation and Xbox stores.”