Former PlayStation boss warns Sony’s 2028 disc shutdown could hurt: “That’s a super important 20%” of physical game collectors
Shawn Layden, former Chief of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, recently spoke on The Expansion Pass podcast and said ending disc production by January 2028 will turn buying a game into buying access, while Sony’s own metrics show 82% of full-game units are already digital downloads. Layden says ending disc production will significantly hurt the company’s brand.
During the interview, he said that he’s now out of the loop and unaware of Sony’s current financial circumstances, which may have led to the decision to go disc-less. Physical software accounted for roughly 4% of the company’s software revenue, and Sony’s CFO has said that the company will still go ahead with the plan regardless of the backlash.
Shawn Layden, on the other hand, doesn’t agree with this sentiment because, while most PlayStation gamers buy games digitally, a segment of collectors will always want physical editions to add to their shelves or libraries. Layden said:
“Not having been in the room. I don’t know what the stressors were around that, or what the spreadsheet said, because I’m sure this is a heavily spreadsheet decision, where costs are being contained and profit is being extracted. I don’t know any of that.”
Layden further emphasized the pros of owning digital games, which offer some convenience, but ultimately he sides with physical media. He explained:
“I do think that gamers are… yeah, we like the digital download. People said, ‘oh, downloading a game is easier than going to the store.’ No, no. Downloading a game is easier than going across my living room to put a disc in the machine. I don’t even have to do that. I just press a button on my controller, and I don’t have to move. And the convenience of that is unquestioned.”
Then he sided with physical collectors and said:
“But I do think, particularly in the gaming realm, maybe 80% of the people download, and 20% don’t, or whatever that breakdown is going to be. But that’s a super important 20%. I mean, that is largely the most faithful of the faithful. That is, many times, the people who buy two copies of every game, right? One never gets out of the shrink wrap. And you play the other one. It’s just like comic book collectors. You always buy two comic books.”
Still, no interview or retort is stopping Sony’s date for ending disc production. Games released on disc before January 2028 will remain unaffected, and PlayStation will go disc-less post-2028.
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