Gamer realizes the true extent of physical games’ demise

Reddit user u/Dark_Dragon117 is dealing with a frustrating problem: since Monday morning, his internet has been completely down, with no clear cause or timeline for a fix. For a gamer, the impact is surprisingly severe. He can’t access any of his planned single-player titles, whether on PC or PlayStation 5. On PC, he can’t access his cloud saves while offline, while the PS5 refuses to verify digital licenses without an internet connection. The contrast to earlier outages makes it worse – in the past, even during two-week blackouts, he could keep playing thanks to a library full of physical games. Now, with most of his collection being digital, he’s effectively locked out of his own content.

In a Reddit thread, u/Dark_Dragon117 reflects on the broader implications of his situation. The decline of physical media, he argues, isn’t just about losing nostalgia – it’s about becoming increasingly dependent on a stable internet connection for everyday gaming. “Like I knew where the industry is headed with the death of physical copies and what not,” he writes, “but I just kinda realized now how bad it is and will be in the future” His immediate hope? That his connection is restored by the time Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launches – a game he’s been waiting five years to play.

Reactions in the thread are mixed. Many users share u/Dark_Dragon117’s frustration, pointing to DRM and always-online requirements as the core problem. “Ownership is being phased out as per the companies plans … you are basically renting your game,” one comment notes. Others argue that the move to digital purchases has only accelerated the decline of physical media. At the same time, the community is actively trading workarounds: using DRM-free platforms like GOG, configuring offline modes on Steam or PlayStation, setting up mobile hotspots as a backup or relying on retro consoles and emulators. The overall takeaway? The problem isn’t digital games themselves – it’s the restrictive license checks and reliance on external servers that turn temporary outages into major disruptions.