During Sony‘s Q1 2026 earnings call, Lin Tao, Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, addressed the massive backlash against the corporation’s strategic move away from PlayStation discs and into a digital-only future starting in January 2028. As previously reported, she acknowledged the strong sentiments expressed by fans, but she also confirmed Sony’s plan to move forward and expressed the company’s conviction that this would not hurt its business.
Later in the call, Minami Hase, a Senior Analyst at Goldman Sachs, followed up with a question about whether the decision to stop manufacturing discs could hurt PlayStation by making it too similar to the PC platform, which has long abandoned physical media.
Tao replied that discs were never really a key feature in making PlayStation consoles stand out from PCs, adding that the key differentiators remain: curated content, a “stable game environment”, and greater affordability compared to high-end PCs.
We don’t feel that the disc is the factor to differentiate from the PC. For PC, there’s certain ways to play with the PC as an user. It’s a long tail. Our strength is that the curated contents, that’s one of our strength. The game environment being stable, that’s another strength. Compared to the high-end gaming PC, our product is more affordable. We don’t feel that the disc itself is a strong factor for differentiation. Going forward, we can coexist peacefully with PC games.
Granted, that affordability took a bit of a hit following the recent component price crisis for memory and storage, which forced Sony to increase prices in late March:
| Console | Price |
|---|---|
| PS5 with disc drive | €649.99 |
| PS5 Digital Edition | €599.99 |
| PS5 Pro | €899.99 |
Of course, PC components are also much more expensive, and rival Xbox console now costs a lot more: the Xbox Series X with the disc drive is now €799 in Europe.
So, Tao may have a point: PlayStation remains more affordable, and the disc controversy is largely immaterial to its differentiation. Of course, if the rumor that Xbox might keep making discs proves true, Microsoft could score points with die-hard physical media aficionados, albeit at a likely financial hit.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief.
In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech’s gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews.
Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications.
His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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