00:00Well, it's finally happening. PlayStation will stop releasing games on discs in 2028.
00:05And if this actually happens as described, I think it would be one of the biggest shifts
00:11in console gaming since digital downloads became mainstream. But here is what I think.
00:16The first thing to separate is what Sony is saying versus what Sony is doing. Sony's argument is
00:22understandable from a business perspective. As we all know, digital sales are already the majority
00:28of PlayStation's game purchases. Another thing is that manufacturing Blu-rays, printing cases,
00:34shipping them worldwide, and dealing with retail, well, that costs money. So selling them directly
00:39through the PlayStation Store means Sony keeps a larger share of every sale. And let's not forget,
00:46publishers also get access to better analytics and more control over pricing and distribution.
00:51So from a purely financial standpoint, this is almost inevitable. But what's good for Sony
00:57isn't necessarily good for players. Because the biggest issue isn't discs. It's the ownership.
01:04And recent news regarding Sony perfectly illustrates why many gamers are worried. If you don't know,
01:12Sony removed hundreds of purchased movies from the users' libraries because the licensing agreement
01:17ended. And basically people had paid for these titles, yet they lost access anyway. And even though
01:24movies and games are different because games usually don't rely on third-party licensing in the same way,
01:29it demonstrates a broader problem. When everything is digital, you're often buying a license, not a
01:36permanent ownership. And that's something many people don't fully appreciate until content disappears or a
01:43service changes. Now, one thing people overlook is how much physical copies keep prices in check. For example,
01:50let's do a quick exercise. Imagine a new $80 game. When you have a physical disc, you can do several
01:56things with it. For starters, you can buy it from whichever retail is cheapest. You can wait for store
02:02discounts. You can buy it used. Maybe you can borrow it from a friend. Maybe you can rent it where
02:08available,
02:09obviously. And at the end, sell it after finishing it. So once physical media disappears, Sony essentially
02:16becomes the gatekeeper. I mean, sure, retailers could still sell digital codes, but those codes generally
02:22don't function like physical copies. They cannot be resold or shared after redemption. And basically,
02:29the second-hand market effectively disappears, which then gives platform holders much greater pricing
02:36power. And we've already seen this on PC. Steam sales are fantastic, but outside sale periods,
02:42digital storefronts often maintain high prices for years because there's no used market competing
02:48against them. And let's not forget, they will never lower the prices of games now. Make no mistake of
02:54that. Because if a game now is $80, there's no way in hell it's going to be $70 or $60
03:01even just because
03:03you are not using the physical copies anymore and you're selling everything digitally. They are
03:08definitely going to use this as a way to make more money. That's 100% certain. And why? Well,
03:15because I will do the same. It's simple as that. Anyway, let's go back to the topic at hand. One
03:21thing
03:21I would like to talk about as well when it comes to this particular story is preservation. This is
03:27probably the biggest concern of them all. You see, physical games aren't perfect anymore because
03:32many ship unfinished and relay on day one patches. However, the disc still provides a playable version
03:38of the game, something collectors can archive, a backup if servers disappear, and historical
03:44preservation. Although when I think about it, every single game now that you boot into your PlayStation,
03:50well, you basically need to download the rest of the game. So, I mean, if we are talking about
03:55purely digital future, it means preservation depends almost entirely on publishers deciding
04:00to keep servers and downloads available. And as you might have noticed, gaming history has shown
04:06they're not always willing to do that. Also, another thing, and I kind of mentioned it before,
04:12retail will suffer greatly because of this. Take a look at GameStop, for example, independent stores
04:18and local game shops. I mean, they are already struggling. And when you remove discs, that just doesn't
04:24affect collectors. It affects retail jobs, independent game stores, trading programs,
04:29impulse purchases, for example, and gaming sections in major retailers. So, that's one whole ecosystem
04:36that's going to shrink dramatically. Albeit, it has been shrinking non-stop, so this is not a huge
04:41surprise, to be honest. Now, I gotta be fair a bit as well. There are upsides to this, because digital
04:48does
04:48have genuine benefits. You have instant downloads, no damaged discs, no need to swap games, faster
04:55updates, preloading after launch, and probably easier access in regions with fewer physical retailers.
05:01So, you could say many people will genuinely prefer this convenience, and for someone who never sells games
05:07and buys everything during digital sales, the transition may not feel like a loss. Quite frankly,
05:13you wouldn't even notice it. However, in the end, the trend isn't, like I said, surprising. But what
05:20concerns me is the concentration of control. When you have one company that controls distribution,
05:26pricing, refunds, access, licenses, and even whether a title remains downloadable, you as a consumer
05:33basically lose leverage. And to be honest, physical media wasn't just nostalgia, it basically created
05:39competition. So, if Sony, Microsoft, and eventually Nintendo all become fully digital, we, the consumers,
05:46have fewer alternatives and less bargaining power. So, in the end, I think this transition was always
05:52coming, but I don't think it's an unequivocal improvement for the player. The convenience of
05:58digital is real, that's very much true, and many consumers have already embraced it, but disappearance
06:04or physical media can likely mean several things. First and foremost is less consumer ownership.
06:10Then you have fewer options for buying and sharing games, or basically you have zero, if I'm going to
06:16be honest with you. Then the end of used game market, that's basically going to disappear. Greater
06:23dependence on platform holders, and probably more challengers for long-term game preservation.
06:28And you know, ironically, Sony's recent removal of those purchased films has made many people more
06:35skeptical of an all-digital future. Even though the situation involved licensed video content rather
06:41than games, it pretty much reinforced a broader concern. Digital purchases can be more fragile than
06:47many people assume. So, if this becomes the industry standard, I think the conversation needs to shift
06:54from disks vs. digital to how companies protect customers in a digital-only world. That could
07:01basically include stronger ownership rights, clearer licensing agreements, maybe guaranteed
07:06re-download access, better refund policy, and preservation commitments. Because without those safeguards,
07:13an old digital future risks giving us more convenience, but less control over the games we pay for.
07:19And that's basically my take on this news. Thanks very much for watching, and as always,
07:24like, share, subscribe, comment, all that good stuff. And that's it from me, until the next one.
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