Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment dropped one hell of a shocker when it announced plans to stop production of physical game discs on PlayStation in January 2028, and it’s now emerged that the hardware manufacturer is unlikely to change its mind.
A report from Austrian outlet Salzburg has stated that Sony’s facility in Thalgau has been preparing for the company’s transition to a digital-only future for a while now, and while it isn’t expected there will be any job losses as a result of the decision, the chances of them doing a U-turn are very slim.
According to the report, some 600,000 game discs are currently rolling off the production line, with PlayStation taking up about 50% of that figure. However, looking ahead to 2028, it expects only 10% of that order will remain. As a result of prediction, it is now re-training staff and modifying equipment to transition to optical microlens manufacturing. These are used to focus and direct light in the smallest possible space, with “one application [being] a car turn signal that is projected onto asphalt.”
Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment dropped one hell of a shocker when it announced plans to stop production of physical game discs on PlayStation in January 2028, and it’s now emerged that the hardware manufacturer is unlikely to change its mind.
A report from Austrian outlet Salzburg has stated that Sony’s facility in Thalgau has been preparing for the company’s transition to a digital-only future for a while now, and while it isn’t expected there will be any job losses as a result of the decision, the chances of them doing a U-turn are very slim.
According to the report, some 600,000 game discs are currently rolling off the production line, with PlayStation taking up about 50% of that figure. However, looking ahead to 2028, it expects only 10% of that order will remain. As a result of prediction, it is now re-training staff and modifying equipment to transition to optical microlens manufacturing. These are used to focus and direct light in the smallest possible space, with “one application [being] a car turn signal that is projected onto asphalt.”
Going by this it’s clear that Sony has been planning this direction for a while now, and with staff being retrained for the new tech described above it’s unlikely to turn back.
Sony has unsurprising received a lot of negative feedback following its plans to go digital-only, and a number of gaming companies including iam8bit have expressed their disappointment. The news also has major implications about the as-yet unannounced PS6, which is almost certainly going to eschew a disc drive; furthermore, analyst Ampere suggests that the console is not likely to launch before 2028.
[Source – Salzburg via PushSquare]