A games industry analyst reacted to Sony's decision to discontinue physical disc releases by saying that the industry has an opportunity to reduce production costs even further. On July 1, Sony officially announced that it will stop releasing new video game discs for PlayStation consoles starting in January 2028.
The decision has led many to believe that Sony's next-gen console will be digital-only or include a separately sold disc drive. However, it is not yet clear how discontinuing discs will affect physical game releases. An expert now believes that, although the future is not fully certain, one thing that seems clear is that companies like Sony can now achieve better margins on sales by reducing costs.
While disc-based PlayStation games will still be releasing until 2028, Sony is already starting to cut back on its production of physical copies.
"There is an opportunity to reduce costs further," says Piers Harding-Rolls, a games industry analyst at Ampere Analysis. He suggests this could come through prepaid game cards or similar alternatives. Harding-Rolls says publishers are currently forced to take on added risk by investing in disc production and paying a royalty fee to Sony "before any payments are received."...
