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Published Jul 31, 2026, 11:47 AM EDT
Discontinuing disc production will not negatively impact PlayStation as a business, CFO says
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It's been a month since Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it was ending production of physical discs for PlayStation games, and a contingent of fans has been loudly criticizing the decision since. On Friday, Sony executives addressed the controversy, indicating that there are no plans to reverse course.
During Sony's recent Q1 FY2026 financial results presentation, chief financial officer Lin Tao responded to a journalist who asked how the company decided on the change. They also asked whether it was a necessary decision to improve the next generation of consoles or if it was solely made to boost PlayStation's profit margin. Additionally, they also dig into how the company intends to react to the significant consumer criticism it has received as a consequence of this decision.
Tao responded:
There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing. That’s the big factor. It’s not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content; digitalization is progressing. And so when we think about the future – and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this – and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward.
And to this decision, we have received various opinions and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us.
Games are loved by many people. It’s a form of entertainment that’s loved by people, and it’s connected to people’s fond memories, in many cases. And so we understand those emotions. We want to consider that. And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore.
Image: SonyAccording to a previous corporate report, physical discs only accounted for 3% of PlayStation sales in 2024. Many players buy digital games because it's more practical, especially when it comes to major releases. Most importantly, it guarantees that they receive their copy on day one and allows them to easily preload games. Plus, they don't have to worry about switching discs when hopping from one game to another. On the other hand, the convenience prevents gamers from reselling games in the future. This is, of course, a positive thing for Sony; if there are fewer secondhand games on the market, digital sales will only increase.
Therefore, it was no surprise when Tao said that since most sales are digital, discontinuing discs shouldn't hurt PlayStation as a business. The decision seems to be final at this point, and Sony's concern now is to do damage control and improve its relationship with the members of the community who have expressed how dissatisfied they are and have threatened to boycott the company.
One such boycott is planned for late August, when a group of PlayStation customers plans to participate in "an economic and gameplay blackout" during which protestors are expected to "participate by turning off their consoles or logging out for seven days."
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