The video game industry has seemingly been hit with bombshell after bombshell of bad news, from Xbox layoffs to ballooning prices. But if that’s not bad enough, I’m still reeling from Sony’s recent announcement: Starting in 2028, the company will no longer produce PlayStation discs. Everyone, from retail store owners to average gamers looking for bargains on used titles, is rightfully upset about this travesty
If the physical media struggle feels like a last stand, it’s not unwarranted. This new world of digital-only gaming is frightening because companies are denying us privileges we’ve always had with physical media, such as selling titles or lending them to a friend, as my colleague argued last week in the immediate wake of the Sony announcement. And now that I’ve had more time to think about it, if this mass digital transition is forced on us, it means there’s finally a chance to rewrite the rules. Our digital gaming future desperately needs more freedom, and it’s up to us to get it. One person yelling at Sony won’t solve the problems, so I think it’s prime time for us, as a collective, to educate ourselves on the situation and turn to the groups that can make a difference.
Physical vs. Digital: A False Choice
You don’t have to be a doomsday prepper to understand the reasons why physical media should exist. You truly own a physical game; it can’t be arbitrarily taken from you over the internet. A physical item is also arguably easier to preserve, more important than ever during the games industry’s preservation crisis. And more romantically, some players like to hold a tangible representation of art in their hands to respect its history and maybe pass it along to someone else
However, we’ve had the choice between physical and digital games for years, and Sony’s not wrong to say that players are choosing digital. It’s genuine consumer preference, not solely a nefarious corporate plot to save money and boost revenue (though that’s true, too)
I’m one of those digitally focused gamers because the advantages are undeniable. Digital is convenient and saves a ton of space. I have countless games, books, movies, and music saved on a handful of devices, rather than clogging my shelves. I love gaming museums, but I don’t need to turn my apartment into one
With games specifically, many of the benefits of physical media have been compromised for years, to the point where “physical” is a bit of a misnomer. Most discs just give you a license to install the game on your system rather than run it from the disc itself, so you still need pricey storage
The way games have evolved has also created more friction with physical formats. Some large titles, like Marvel‘s Spider-Man 2, need to stream data from a drive quickly; Fortnite and other live service releases require a constant internet connection for daily updates;and most games require at least a patch or two. Many indie games also just don’t have the resources to produce and ship physical goods, yet they should still exist. Simply rolling things back to how they used to be means things would never be allowed to change for the better.
We shouldn’t have an all-digital world, but a primarily digital world seems inevitable. However, that doesn’t mean you stop participating in the hobby. Shape the future, change and adapt, or risk handing over all control by giving up and rolling over. Game ownership shouldn’t die alongside physical discs. Citizens of a digital ecosystem deserve digital rights—let’s fight to get them
A Better World Is Possible
What do increased digital media rights look like? We already have some examples. Steam is technically a form of DRM, a way for Valve to restrict control, but that PC gaming marketplace still lets you share games with family and friends or get refunds.Steam also allows publishers and developers to sell DRM-free games (so maybe the Steam Machine is a better future “console” than PS5 or PS6).GOG, meanwhile, is totally DRM-free, letting you do just about anything you want with the files you’ve purchased, without tying your ownership to GOG’s whims.
We need more of these initiatives on consoles if, say, the PlayStation 6 lacks a disc drive. The nightmare scenario is unrestricted corporate dominance. These more consumer-friendly features aren’t impossible. The silver lining of the Xbox One’s otherwise horrifying original DRM scheme was the increased number of ways to share digital games, which we’ve now seen with systems like Nintendo’s virtual game cards. Speaking of Nintendo, the Switch 2’s game-key cards are rightfully maligned, but they let you physically share a digital game that would never fit on a cartridge, such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I loved playing through that portable port, and would rather have any version than none at all.
There’s a lot of room for imagination here, beyond just sharing digital games. For example, we need competing marketplaces to prevent price-fixing. Equally important, we need protections, such as the ability to redownload purchases, even when digital stores disappear. Notably, Sony is shutting down the PS3 and Vita stores, which was more bad news snuck into its all-digital announcement. In addition, games must be accessible to players of all income levels. Numerous libraries let people borrow ebooks; games should be part of those digital collections.
I can dream up solutions all day, but how do you enforce them?
It’s Time to Lay Down the Law
The digital battle is not one we have to undertake alone. Following this PlayStation news, the Video Game History Foundation, one of the most prominent groups dedicated to game preservation, issued a statement explaining how difficult it has been to secure industry support
“If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we’d also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content,” the statement read. “Everyone agrees this is a serious problem, but the ESA has repeatedly opposed the efforts of cultural heritage institutions to reform digital copy protection laws.”
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Profit-obsessed companies are never going to relinquish control out of the goodness of their hearts. Physical media distribution is already winding down, with distribution shifting to boutique outfits like Limited Run Games. Why would Sony get in the way of that when the digital shift only consolidates power? It’s a bigger issue than just games. The true scope and true stakes are all of media. We’re only renting what we think we’re buying, as demonstrated by Sony’s recent revocation of access to more than 500 delisted movies on the PlayStation Store. And executives wonder why folks turn to piracy.
Frankly, for those of us who don’t want to break the law, the necessary solution is regulation to change the law, to take these rights rather than be granted them. The Stop Killing Games campaign is “a global coalition of gamers, consumer advocates, and developers pushing for international legal protections.” The group recently suffered a setback as its bill failed to advance in the California state senate, but having an organized effort is a great start
If digital media is going to make up the entire video game pie, we don’t have to swallow it.
Another promising group is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, “the leading nonprofit defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation.” The Strong Museum of Play recently announced “Save the Games: A Digital Preservation Symposium,” which shows that digital gaming doesn’t have to be inherently opposed to museum work.
I recognize that this is a difficult fight that requires a lot of political will, especially in this climate. But gaming and tech companies being regulated into more consumer-friendly stances isn’t entirely unheard of. Regulation dealt a blow to exploitative loot box mechanics. In the EU, iPhones must have standard USB-C ports, and the Nintendo Switch 2 must have a removable battery due to regulations. Now international iPhones have alternative app stores. Stateside, Epic didn’t sue Apple just to help out gamers, but the lawsuit highlighted why Apple’s total control over its digital storefronts is a bad thing.
We would be better off if the US government had won its fight to block the merger between Microsoft and Activision, because consolidation just makes corporations stronger and therefore harder to defeat. But no entity is all-powerful. The EU already threw cold water on the idea of blocking Sony’s pivot to digital, but increased digital rights, seized if necessary, are not entirely out of reach
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Fight for the Future
A wholesale return to physical sounds nice and nostalgic, but it’s unrealistic. Physical media isn’t totally perfect, and digital media isn’t totally evil. That said, if digital media is going to make up the entire video game pie, we don’t have to swallow it. We must address the real problems in an increasingly hostile digital landscape across all media before it’s too late. Whether we’re passionate individuals or supporters of organizations with real leverage, it all starts with us taking back our power.
About Our Expert
Jordan Minor
Principal Writer, Software
Experience
My PCMag career began in 2013 as an intern. Now, I’m a senior writer, using the skills I acquired at Northwestern University to write about dating apps, meal kits, programming software, website builders, video streaming services, and video games. I was previously a senior editor at Geek.com and have written for The A.V. Club, Kotaku, and Paste Magazine. I’m the author of the gaming history book Video Game of the Year: A Year-by-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977, and the reason everything you know about Street Sharks is a lie.
Areas of Expertise
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