This is my last console Gen, 30 years deep.
Owning a console means owning your game—being able to share it, save it, display it, sell it, and trade it.
It’s been an amazing, wild ride. But Sony, I’m out.
Remember when XB1 was going to be digital-only and Sony roasted it so badly Microsoft had to walk it back?
Sad thing is, I always figured this was going to be inevitable. I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.
That is why you need a strong competition. Unfortunately Sony doesn’t have one, so they can do whatever they want.
Hilariously still up on their YT, and rightfully getting roasted in the comments
Microsoft has the chance to do the funniest thing.
They won’t, of course. They’d rather shoot themselves in the foot than do something smart.
The next Xbox is a PC, it’s already 99% digital only.
PlayStation players are already basically digital only, have been for years.
The people complaining are the vocal extreme minority.
I’m out. I would never buy a console without physical media.
Realistically, with half-finished games on launch and mandatory day one patches, this won’t be a meaningful shift in how much you actually “own” your games, but dropping this 2 days after they deleted 550 movies that folks had bought and paid for and ostensibly “owned” from the ecosystem is a real bad look.
The problem with discs vs. digital never was how much of the game you own or the fact that you can play the same disc 20 years down the road. It boils down to the fact that you can no longer sell the game you own after finishing it.
Or even just lend it to a friend. When I was a kid everyone in my group would get a different game and share them. We barely would have been able to play anything if we didn’t share
See, this is the real problem. Anybody with an MBA is going to look at your statement and think about all the money they didn’t get because they’re too fucking stupid to realize that you would not have bought more games if you had to buy multiple copies. It’s the same thing with like pirating music they used to talk about how much money they’ve lost, and I used to think no I just wouldn’t have bought that album. So they’ve spent all this time trying to figure out how to chase down dollars they never would’ve gotten to begin with.
Yeah the reality is I would have just read (more) books from the library and played fewer video games
Not only selling, but buying, lending or even gifting!
That’s correct, most of my collection on XboX 360 and PS4 comes from second hand games.
We used to finish games. No update bullshit. A game was done when it was done. Humans can do this shit. Capitalism erodes our skills and our brains.
Just look at crash on ps1. Amazing.
I would rather a game that is supported for years with new content, updates, and fixes over one that isn’t. This thinking that “games were done back in the olden days, now they’re not” is dumb. They were just smaller, and they often had lots of bugs that could never be fixed.
Nah. I’ll take a finished game with a few bugs over a "weekly update ".
Also, game updates aren’t even bug fixes a lot of the time, its doing some idiotic menu reorganizing or adding a new loot box. Games dont need any of that. They just have to be good.
And also, your game that is "supported for years " with its weekly updates is dead in the water after 5 years often when its no longer "profitable " and with bugs still unfixed. So does it really make sense ?
Again, I can throw crash in my ps1 and play through it with 0 issue and 0 internet. Can The Crew do that? Can any game do that in 30 years? No.
So you are against updates just in principle lol. You’d rather games not get better because of a misguided idea that updates being a thing mean games aren’t “finished” at release.
You also seem to think that only online-only games get frequent updates. That’s not true. Take a game like vampire survivors for example. It must have had a hundred updates by now, and it’s a single player offline game (though they also recently added online multiplayer in a free update). That game will be playable in 30 years time too. Why wouldn’t it?
You are mistaking games that require a persistent online connection as “games that get updates”.
Basically yes, because many are unnecessary updates. I don’t care about them. Its actually cringe for me when I open a game and see “gahhh NOW what did they fricken change ??”. For many games, its usually not a good thing either, just from games I’ve played. Thats of course not always true. A bug fix here and there isnt the worst. But it rarely stops there.
"Constant updates " and "required online for single player " are often (usually) tied together. They can be separate yes, and those examples exist and are fine.
I still stand by the fact that there were millions of games made before constant internet and updates were a thing, and maaaaany of them are very good. I mean, I also hate when software devs think moving around all our menu buttons and shit (also introducing more bugs) and re releasing a product makes it “better” when it worked just fine for years. Its like they feel the need to change unnessesary shit, probably because the CEO told their boss it needs to be done so line go up. Who knows. Changing stuff for the sake of change does nothing.
I’m with you, this is an insanely ballsy move. One of the biggest pros of a console is that you could still buy physical games and trade it with friends or sell it used to someone else. If everything is going digital, what’s the point?
Here we even have a local chain that rents you physical games for a week at a time…
It’s not ballsy at all. They’ve basically got no competition in the high-end console space, and the overwhelming majority of console buyers only buy digital already.
An exorbitant entry level price for consoles has never been tested at current prices, because all of them had sane prices for years and so have install bases that got them at those prices. How will it go if the minimum buy-in is over $1000 with no way to mitigate the cost later on with used games? We’re gonna find out!
Again though - if you want a game console you’ll buy a PlayStation because it’s the only real option, and it’ll be cheaper than an Xbox.
Bu the time it comes out, people will be well accustomed to paying exorbitant prices for these things. It sucks but it’ll be the norm by then. Prices are never going back down, because history has shown us they never do.
It’s not a matter of them wanting it, the issue is whether a large number of people will be able to actually afford it at that price. Consoles thrive on accessibility.
They will, because it’s the only option and is “the” gaming brand.
I’ll be watching the number of consoles sold a year after launch with interest. It will of course sell out at launch regardless of price.
What?
What the fuck?
They are just going to let Nintendo be the last physical game producer?
Physical copies are about to cost so much, fuck them!
Nintendo: Game key cards don’t seem so bad now, huh??
Microsoft still allow physical copies?
Microsoft tried to make their consoles digital only years ago. They only
added the disc drive backallowed reusing discs because Sony’s marketing of the PS4.Now that Sony’s out, MS will gleefully follow
What are you talking about?
At E3 in 2013, Microsoft announced that all games, including physical copies, would be electronically bound to your Microsoft account, making “physical” copies just keys for their digital network.
Sony famously made fun of them, and forced Microsoft to change course for the Xbox One/PS4 era
https://www.vice.com/en/article/one-of-playstations-most-iconic-ads-has-backfired-after-13-years/
OK good that you at least edited your statement about the disk drive out, because that was wrong.
In to the Xbox One announcement, you’re leaving out very important information - the fact that they were allowing trading/re-selling and loaning of said digital games. All the benefits of physical games bright to digital copies.
Once per
purchasedisc, at participating retailers, meaning it still killed the resale market if it can’t keep getting tradedOf course you can only re-sell your purchase once 🤣
Articles were going around yesterday talking about Microsoft’s next console being digital only.
I sympathize with people huffing copium with “but XBOX!” regarding physical games, but they need to think about what they’re saying. It’s Microsoft!
Until yesterday you no doubt thought Sony would never do what they just announced. Maybe don’t “Xbox too” just because you want Xbox to.
The next XBOX won’t have a disc drive.
Sure, because it’s a PC where everyone has been all digital for a decade, but Sonys change doesn’t just apply to their next console. You think Xbox will stop devs releasing physical games for the series x?
So you’re just hoping Microsoft also get rid of discs because you don’t want them to still sell them if Sony doesn’t. Gotcha.
Due to licensing agreements expiring with publishers, 500 titles of your digital games will no longer be available. We are also shutting down our digital storefront for this generation’s console next year, after which you will no longer be able to download any other titles onto your puny price inflated ssd. Please consider upgrading to the PS7 to continue paying to play online, where you can pay to purchase your games again. Thank you for your business.
Without physical disk I might as well get a Gabecube instead.
At least once the next Gabecube “2” comes out, the old one won’t become a paperweight and could become my parents next computer.Someone at Sony is feeling very smart and modern right now, totally unaware that PlayStation is now a dead brand walking.
They are a strong brand, but that’s not going to be enough to justify a definitely-$1k+ PS6 compared to increasing handheld and console-like gaming options that are not locked down ecosystems. Their exclusives likely can’t save them, they have been dying out already.
Physical media was one of the few remaining differentiators for hardcore collectors and loyalists. Even if I’m sure it’s a greatly diminished part of their bottom line, it’s a psychological anchor that justifies the existence of a console. Now their console will be just another extremely handicapped and uncompetitive digital box, even if (as recently reported) they copy the Switch dockable format.
For me, the locked ecosystem of consoles was justified by a lower price for the hardware and the option to sell or trade the software. Now that neither is going to be a thing any more, my 40+ years of console gaming will be ending after this gen. It’s gonna be dedicated PCs plugged into the TV from here on out.
I’ve always been a PC gamer, but for a long time there, consoles were affordable enough to put in for just a few exclusives. Then I gradually went from a couple consoles to one, and then I started skipping generations and now it’s at the point where my last participation in the console market was getting a used PS3 at the far end of its life and getting a Switch gifted to me a couple years ago. I was expecting to skip PS4 and get a PS5 after the price dropped, but yeahhhhh. I’m definitely still interested in exclusives (the Shadow of the Colossus remake, The Last Guardian, Bloodborne, and now Intergalactic), but at this point, there’s no viable scenario were I’m in the Sony ecosystem in the foreseeable future. Fumito Ueda’s next game being announced for PC was shocking to me.
Even if we’re talking marginal cost differential for used games, a lot of consumer psychology is just feeling like they are getting a good deal. PC gaming is on the rise–and I don’t mean that in a cute, Lemmy Linux gaming sort of way, it’s genuinely a market shift shown across multiple indicators–there’s growing hostility towards walled-garden ecosystems, and Nintendo’s still going strong. Sony needs some sort of carrot, sheesh. Woof.
I guarantee that you’re wrong. The PS6 will sell every unit they produce for years, even at the $1200+ it will be. Why? A few reasons:
- It’s PlayStation. PlayStation has a gigantic “Sony can do no wrong and we want all their competition to die, and we’ll buy whatever they release no matter how garbage it is” fan base in the tens of millions.
- there will be no alternative.
- 85%+ of all games sold on PlayStation currently are digital. This change affects a tiny fraction of the user base.
No more PlayStation for me then.
I’m more likely to bite the bullet on the cost of a Steam Machine then over a PS6.
Even without games on disc I use it for my movies on disc all the time. I will not be replacing my PS5 with something without a disc drive.
Isn’t a PS5 more powerful than the steam machine?
No. They’re about equal, and OS updates since the reviews were made have bumped up the SM’s performance
Guess who’s getting rid of movies you bought on Playstation?
Well what’s the point then. Might as well go over to PC gaming. The only real reason to stay with consoles was the physical disks.
Everything else about consoles is terrible compared to PC, no mods, limited games, limited sales, if any, (looking at you Nintendo), limited control scheme options, can only play games so device doesn’t have a lot of utility, you have to pay for internet access even though you already pay for internet access, no private servers, limited community tools.
The one thing you could say for consoles was that you owned the game. Now that’s gone.
Consoles now cost nearly as much as a PCs, digital purchases are being revoked, and now discs are going away and you’re being locked into one storefront where Sony can charge whatever they want. I’ve enjoyed owning consoles for my entire life but they don’t make sense anymore. Somehow, Sony just made the the Steam Machine look like a smart purchase.
Maybe not the Steam Machine itself, but a dedicated PC plugged into the TV using SteamOS, certainly. That’s going to be my “console” going forward after this gen.
To be fair, i’d say the Steam Machine is relatively cost competitive with other PC pre-builds. DIY will save you money but you’ll never end up with a system that’s as small or quiet, and you have to really know what you’re doing.
The Steam Machine is not such a bad deal really, aside from the fact that every PC is a bad deal in 2026.
You can totally build a system as small and as quiet. You really have to be experienced to do it, for sure, but it can be done. My last build was a shoebox sized mini itx. It was 1" taller and one 1.5" longer than the top of the line video card I put in it. It had 4 SSDs and a full size PSU.
It was whisper quiet until you asked for the absolute maximum output. It was always silent doing anything a console could do.
I get what you’re saying, but it’s worth mentioning that even a Mini ITX board has a larger foot print (6.7" squared) than the Steam Machine’s absolutely tiny 6" cubic form factor. It’s really a very small device!
FWIW, I’ve always found that small form factor parts are a little more expensive too.
Damn. I knew it was small, but I thought it was 9^3" not 6^3". I thought I’d at least matched it on volume, with my ~6.5x7x11". You’re right, hitting that size with those specs is only possible with custom PCBs.
That’s not going to be an option for most people on account of SteamOS not betting able to play all of the biggest, most popular games.
The only ones I can think of that don’t work are online ones that use Anti-Cheat. They can use Windows instead, then.
Yeah, and that’s 99 of the top 100 most popular games.
Try selling someone a pc in 2026 that will never be able to play GTA6 lol.
As I said, if those games matter to them, they can simply use Steam’s Big Picture Mode in Windows. This is a non-issue.
So install windows on the steam machine?
You could, but it would be easier to just plug in any computer with Windows already on it to the TV instead.
We finally made it here. They been making digital only consoles for years now.
Why get into consoles now? One of the best reasons to get a console is gone.
natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends
yet all of the comments below their post prefer physical
So a grand total of 100 people out of 8 billion want physical, absolutely a reason for them to continue
Edit: I don’t support this btw but it was always going this way
yet all of the comments below their post prefer physical
Comment sections are not a representative sample. These are people who actively follow Sony news and care enough about physical media to leave angry comments.
I prefer physical media myself because I’m a middle-aged fogey, but if you want to see how PlayStation players as a whole are buying games, you have to look at Sony’s financials. Since Sony are a publicly traded company, those are publicly available
The relevant data is on page 12 of this supplemental document
In FY 2025, Sony made G¥121,159 on physical game sales and G¥949,799 on digital game sales. Those numbers exclude DLC, which is listed separately (and combined with lootboxes). In short, Sony make 7.8 times as much on sales of digital games (excluding DLC and microtransactions!) as they do on physical games. To put it another way, physical game sales make up just 11% of Sony’s revenue from game sales (again, excluding DLC and microtransactions). And that figure has been trending downward ever since the PS3.
The obvious caveat here is that lots of indie games never get physical releases, which skews the ratio toward digital. That’s true, but the same page of the document shows that of games that get physical releases, 76% of sales are still digital.
The fact of the matter is we’re a dying breed. Most people today either prefer the convenience of digital games or are just indifferent. Comment sections may say one thing, but actual data shows a massive trend toward digital games.
We need physical media. We can rely \ expect companies to keep servers up forever. I am beyond livid ….