At Tokyo Game Show 2026, an old PlayStation used-game joke came back around, and this time it sparked a fresh round of backlash online. The reaction followed Sony saying it will stop making physical discs for new PlayStation games in January 2028.
Former PlayStation executives Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes reenacted their famous 2013 PlayStation 4 skit, only now there was no case and no disc anywhere in sight. The callback revived that 20-second handoff that mocked Xbox One restrictions and helped pitch PlayStation as the console for people who wanted to own, resell, and lend their games.
Sony’s push toward digital isn’t hard to understand. Full-game downloads reportedly climbed from about 13% in 2013 to 78% to 80% by 2025, which cuts manufacturing and retail costs and gives publishers tighter control over pricing, plus a direct relationship with customers. Even so, Alinea Analytics says six of the seven major first-party Sony games released since 2022 still sold 32% to 47% of their copies in physical format.
If you’re a collector, a bargain hunter, or just someone dealing with limited internet or storage, this is the part to pay attention to. The backlash is really about what disappears with discs: resale, lending, preservation, and access that doesn’t depend on a storefront, especially when digital purchases are licenses rather than ownership. Nintendo still gets 38.5% of its sales from boxed copies, and Microsoft has also looked at disc-to-digital changes, which turns an old PlayStation 4 victory lap into a reminder that ownership doesn’t look the way it used to.
Both versions of the clip are online.
Author: Emmanuel Bosque
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"es-ES": "Emmanuel Bosque cubre videojuegos en Softonic: lanzamientos, actualizaciones que convierten un juego en otro sin decirlo y los movimientos de una industria que casi nunca avisa. Escribe pensando en quien va a jugar, no en quien va a discutir: qué se puede jugar hoy, en qué plataforma y si de verdad merece la descarga. Forma parte del equipo editorial de Softonic y trabaja a diario con herramientas de IA en la producción de contenido.",
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