Sony’s decision to stop producing discs for new PlayStation games is reportedly causing considerable anger behind the scenes, with multiple people now claiming that developers, publishers and retailers were openly discussing the potential fallout at Gamescom.
Speaking during DF Direct Weekly #279, at around the 22:21 mark, Digital Foundry’s John Linneman said Gamescom was the first industry event he had attended since Sony announced that new PlayStation games would no longer be produced on disc from January 2028. The mood among Sony’s partners was apparently not cheerful.
“I spoke to a lot of developers and publisher people about it and they were largely very upset. A lot of these companies actually see a lot of return, and in fact the majority, through physical sales. I feel like this is really going to affect a lot of businesses.” – Linneman.
Linneman suggested the biggest AAA publishers would absorb the change, but smaller companies could be hit much harder. He also came away with the impression that some may put more weight behind Nintendo’s latest console as a result.
“I get the feeling that a lot of these companies really want to put their weight behind the Switch 2 now and sort of try to keep that alive. The industry side of things is not positive right now about what’s happening. There seems to be a lot of resentment for what Sony has done and what they’re doing.”
Linneman clarified that companies aren’t suddenly going to abandon PlayStation, but wondered whether this could gradually lead to worse results for Sony as companies and customers look more seriously at other options.
The claim also appears to be backed up by Gene Park of The Washington Post, who responded: “Glad more people are confirming. These are not just ‘rumors’.” Park didn’t say what he has heard or from whom, so that isn’t confirmation of every claim floating around. It does suggest Linneman isn’t the only journalist hearing that people within the industry are pissed off, though.
Then there is a separate account from Eurogamer Spain’s new Nitro podcast, recorded during Gamescom. Rubén Mercado, CEO and founder of Spanish gaming accessory and distribution company Blade, was speaking from the event’s business area.
According to Mercado, Sony’s decision was the one subject that kept appearing across those meetings.
“I think this is the Gamescom where I have spent more time acting as a psychologist than as a salesman. The industry is experiencing a very strange situation. There has been one overriding subject: Sony and its decision regarding physical games.” – Mercade, translated from Spanish.
Mercado said he had spoken with “many publishers” and claimed the subject dominated European and international meetings. He argues that physical and digital sales together make many projects commercially viable, while an entirely digital market could leave smaller games fighting for attention against companies capable of buying the front pages of the PlayStation Store. According to Mercado, retailers, developers and even government representatives were attempting to pressure Sony because of the potential damage to jobs and businesses dependent on physical games.
Broad digital percentages can hide how important discs remain to particular companies. Physical copies represented roughly 22% of PlayStation’s full-game sales during Sony’s 2025 financial year, but individual releases such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Astro Bot and Spider-Man 2 appear to have sold millions on disc. That makes Linneman’s claim plausible, even if he understandably didn’t name the companies involved.
Mercado went considerably further, repeating rumours that Sony may delay the January 2028 cut-off by one or two years and that Microsoft has told publishers its next Xbox will retain physical support alongside the newly announced disc-to-digital system.
Most explosive of all, Mercado claimed an unnamed major publisher—not Rockstar—has threatened to skip PlayStation unless Sony guarantees physical copies of at least the next two instalments in one of its biggest franchises.
“There is a major company with a very big title which has told PlayStation directly that, if PlayStation cannot assure it that at least the next two editions of its major game can be released physically, it will not release the game on PlayStation. It will release it only on Microsoft and Nintendo Switch.”
That would obviously be huge, but Mercado repeatedly described these claims as rumours and offered no names or evidence. His reference to the next “two editions” is also unclear. For now, it belongs in the big bucket labelled interesting Gamescom chatter which might turn out to be complete bollocks.
Personally, I can’t see any of the big companies being willing to skip PS6 entirely. PlayStation is the dominant sales force in the console business. Refusing to release there could be a devastating financial decision.
There is conflicting chatter, too. Former Sony and Psygnosis veteran Richard Browne has flatly denied that Sony discussed changing its strategy at Gamescom, saying publishers are continuing to follow the existing guidance for a discless 2028. Insider NateTheHate backed him up, stating that “there is nothing circulating to suggest Sony is considering a change to strategy.”
Importantly, neither Browne or NateTheHate actually discuss whether the developers and publishers themselves are unhappy – just that Sony isn’t backing down.
Sony itself addressed the backlash in July, but gave no indication that it was preparing to reverse course. For now, January 2028 remains the official end date for new PlayStation discs. What has changed is that this no longer looks like anger limited to collectors shouting beneath PlayStation’s social media posts. Some of the companies making and selling the games appear to be shouting as well.
Meanwhile, Xbox is busy launching a disc-to-digital service. Sadly, though, Xbox boss Asha Sharma isn’t commiting to the next Xbox supporting discs.