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Last week, PlayStation announced it will stop manufacturing physical games in January 2028, citing “shifting trends in consumer preference.”
For Trevor Turnbow, co-owner of Collector’s Realm and a gamer himself, the change is a step in the wrong direction
“I can’t say I’m happy about it. You know, as a collector, I like having the physical item… So, the chances of that is pretty much out the window,” Turnbow explained, later adding, “There’s a lot of collectors out there, and a lot of them just like being able to look at their shelf and see all the different games on there, and you won’t really be able to do that anymore.”
Turnbow’s passion for gaming began when he was roughly 6 years old — the age his family first introduced him to Super Mario World
Over time, his collection grew to include hundreds of games and several consoles. Fast forward to November 2025, Turnbow began selling retro games and consoles at Collector’s Realm, located in the Quincy Town Center
Now, Turnbow said he’s worried that gamers are losing ownership of the products they pay for
“When you get digital, yeah, it’s convenient, but a lot of times… you don’t actually own what you’re playing anymore. So I know they could potentially just take it for different reasons or delete it for whatever reasons, which is kind of not cool because… you’re paying ‘X’ amount of money and it just keeps getting more and more every year. And at this point, they’re going to give you less and less,” he said
Turnbow is unsure how the announcement will affect his business
“It definitely… has me kind of cautious. I’m watching to see what’s happening because… I think it is going to spike the retro market, but it also could potentially push away people from collecting physical as much because now there’s no longer physical games to get,” he explained
While he is unsure PlayStation would consider reversing course on the decision, Turnbow hopes the company will consider a compromise with gamers who don’t want to digitize their game library
One potential solution could be limited releases of physical copies for games in high demand among collectors
“I think that they should listen to people is the main thing. You know, listen to what the audience is saying, and kind of go from there,” he said
According to PlayStation’s announcement, the change will have “no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028.”
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