Why Sony Is Making the Move
Sony isn't framing this as a radical pivot so much as a formalization of where players already are. In its announcement, the company called the shift "a natural direction... to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs." That's backed by the numbers: Sony's fiscal-year results underline just how far the transition has already gone, with digital downloads accounting for 78% of full-game PS4 and PS5 software unit sales in fiscal 2025, rising to 85% in the fourth quarter alone. Instant downloads, no manufacturing or shipping costs, no physical inventory to manage, and libraries that follow a player's account rather than a shelf all make the economics of an all-digital catalog straightforward from Sony's side. This isn't a company inventing a new problem — it's a company stopping support for a format most of its customers had already mostly abandoned.
