Sony’s disc decision threatens $7 billion resale market

A PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and a stack of retail game cases are pictured with the Sony logo glowing in the background in Athens, Greece, on July 14, 2026. Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that it will permanently cease production of physical discs for all new PlayStation games by the end of 2027. Beginning in January 2028, every newly released video game will be available exclusively in digital formats and sold only through the PlayStation Store. (Photo by Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Back in June 2013, Sony’s PlayStation released a short video demonstrating just how straightforward it was to share games on the console. Former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida handed a disc to colleague Adam Boyes, and that simple gesture said it all. But it was interpreted as more than a basic tutorial; it was widely seen as a pointed jab at rival Microsoft Xbox and its restrictive game-sharing rules.

“Trade in the game at retail. Sell it to another person. Lend it to a friend, or keep it forever,” said Jack Tretton, then President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, at a conference that same year. “When a gamer buys a PS4 disc, they have the rights to use that copy of the game.” That statement earned a standing ovation and fueled the backlash that eventually forced Xbox to reverse its own restrictive policies.

Now, many observers believe Sony has become the very antagonist it once mocked. PlayStation has announced it will halt physical disc production for new games on its consoles starting in January 2028, making all future releases digital-only. Boxed retail versions, if they are sold at all, will contain a download code rather than a physical disc.

One of the first titles expected to adopt this model is Take-Two Interactive’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, published by Rockstar Games and scheduled for release this year. The economics clearly favor Sony. By pushing more games through digital sales, the company reduces the need to manufacture physical boxes and eliminates discs entirely, boosting profit margins.

Michael Pachter, managing director of strategic planning at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC that the move will save Sony some money, but “there can be no question that the consumer pays the tax in terms of less optionality.” A disc can be resold, traded in, lent to a friend, given as a gift, kept on a shelf, or preserved after a storefront shuts down. A download code cannot do any of those things.

Without physical discs, gamers lose the ability to buy cheaper used games or recoup money from titles they have finished. The change gives Sony tighter control over where games are sold, when they are discounted, and how long consumers can access them.

“This is a truly ironic turn of events,” said Kazunori Ito, director of equity research at Morningstar, to CNBC. He noted that Sony earned goodwill in 2013 by presenting physical discs as the “simple, consumer-friendly option.” On YouTube, gamers have resurfaced Sony’s old clips with bitter comments. “This is like watching the wedding video after the divorce,” one wrote. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” added another.

Existing physical games and titles released on disc before the cutoff will not be affected.