During Sony's Q1 FY2026 earnings call, chief financial officer Lin Tao addressed continued criticism over the company's plan to end physical disc production for PlayStation games by 2028. Tao said the decision was driven mainly by the broader trend of digitalization across all forms of content, not just games, and said Sony 'cautiously considered' the move before deciding to proceed.
Tao acknowledged that fans have 'strong views' on the subject and said Sony understands that games are tied to people's 'fond memories.' However, she indicated the company does not plan to reverse the decision, and said ending physical discs is not expected to negatively affect PlayStation's business now or in the future, since a large share of sales are already digital. According to Polygon, physical discs accounted for only 3% of PlayStation sales in 2024.
New figures shared alongside the earnings call showed that 82% of PlayStation game sales are now digital. Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra reacted to the number publicly, saying he was surprised the digital share was that high and recalling that in his own industry experience, crossing the 50% mark had been considered a major milestone. Ybarra said he wishes physical media would stick around, but called the consumer trend toward digital 'clear.' For comparison, industry analyst Daniel Ahmad of Niko Partners has said Xbox's digital sales ratio is already over 90%, and Capcom expects to reach 95% digital sales by next year.
Ybarra also renewed his past calls for a 'digital promise' from the industry — some system of trust and transparency guaranteeing that digitally purchased games will keep working in the future, along with a possible marketplace allowing people to resell or trade digital games.
An analyst on the earnings call also asked whether removing physical discs risks making future PlayStation consoles resemble all-digital PCs. Tao responded that Sony's curated content library and stable gaming environment remain differentiators, and argued that PlayStation hardware is more affordable than high-end gaming PCs. She said Sony can 'coexist peacefully with PC games' even without discs. PC Gamer noted that recent cost estimates put PlayStation 6 materials at over $900, narrowing the price gap with PC hardware such as the Steam Machine.
The disc discontinuation announcement has sparked ongoing backlash since it was first revealed a month before the earnings call. According to Polygon, a group of PlayStation customers is planning what they call an 'economic and gameplay blackout' in late August, encouraging participants to turn off their consoles or log out for seven days in protest.