Back when Microsoft wanted to go down the digital-only, always-online route with the Xbox One, Sony came in clutch and saved offline play and physical media by promising players they wouldn’t be ditching discs or asking you to be constantly connected to the internet.
But now Sony is being the one to take physical media and offline play out the back of the shed that once was gaming, killing it not with a bang but with a whimper. As of January 2028, no new discs will be made for PlayStation, with the PS6 likely to completely eradicate physical media and focus on going forward with just ones and zeroes, because buying something and having it in your hands to do whatever is a relic of the past.
Back in 2013, Sony sang a very, and I mean very, different tune to this, so much so that it was one of its selling points for the PS4 as Xbox and Microsoft were trying to do the same thing Sony is doing now. During E3 2013, Sony dedicated a part of its panel to expressing just how important physical media is. It highlighted how you can sell it, keep it forever, or do whatever you want with it. How the turntables.
