When it comes to the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of physical versus digital game releases, former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has also offered his opinions on the matter. In an interview with GamerBraves, Yoshida spoke about Sony’s announcement that it was ending the production of PlayStation discs.
“Well, I didn’t know they were planning that,” he said when asked about the subject. “But personally, I’m a totally digital consumer. I don’t want to manage discs or swap discs. I want all my games on my dashboard, and I just select a game and play it. So, I’m completely digital.”
Yoshida’s statement echoes what many others have said about the current state of the market, with a vast majority of players seemingly having a preference for digital distribution thanks to factors like convenience. The former PlayStation executive, however, also noted that the collection aspect of physical games was noteworthy.
“I know there are collectors of physical games. They have walls full of physical packages, and for them, it would be a shame if physical games were no longer available to collect.”
Expressing that things like collectors’ editions would continue in some form or another, potentially with a disc-in-the-box approach, he went on to speak about how little games being on discs in their entirety matters, especially in an age where a day-one patch is an expectation rather than an exception.
“Even with physical disc games, in most cases, developers are constantly updating and adding game data anyway. Anyone who chooses to purchase a physical version will still need to download new patches, DLC, or updates. So, not having a disc, I don’t understand if it’s such a big issue.”
Yoshida believes that, in the move to an all-digital future, the price of games will also start being more flexible. Since nothing is printed on a physical box, he said that “Publishers can choose whatever price they want on a digital game.” However, he also acknowledged that the second-hand market getting destroyed “may become an issue”. While he didn’t have any concrete idea to refute this, Yoshida believes that more regular discounts might be a way for Sony and publishers to appease the second-hand market and mitigate the issue.
“Publishers always run promotions and price discounts throughout the year.”
“So, people will be able to wait for a sale and buy the games they want at a cheaper price. I think publishers and platforms will continue to offer these opportunities for people who aren’t able to pay the full price at launch.”
Yoshida is far from the only person in the industry to have spoken about the benefits of games going fully digital. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick had said that “discs don’t make sense to the consumer” during a recent earnings report.
“So that’s where the world is going in our opinion, and I think Sony understands that. We certainly understand that. It doesn’t mean that we won’t have physical editions now and then; I’m sure we will in the same way that there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business. But in other instances, it just won’t make sense.”
Sony’s decision to end PlayStation disc production will go into effect from January 2028. Microsoft hasn’t yet made any statement about the matter, but rumors have indicated that the company had planned to continue supporting discs with its future console – Project Helix.
