Sony dropped a bombshell this week: starting January 2028, new PlayStation games will no longer release on physical disc. The announcement traveled well beyond gaming circles, and the internet responded the way it usually does when a major corporation makes an unpopular call. With jokes. Lots of them.
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The announcement that broke the internet (and fast food brands)
KFC Spain, with over 1 million followers on X, posted a parody announcement that has since spread across gaming communities worldwide. "BREAKING NEWS: KFC will stop offering its physical format starting today," the post read. "Products can only be consumed through our app in fake PNG format. Within one month we'll release a DLC with the sauces." It continued with a dig about a "FriedChicken Pass" for a "modest monthly price" and threatened legal action against anyone who "pirates the PNGs on Pinterest."
Domino's Pizza UK joined in by retweeting Sony's official announcement and noting it "makes about as much sense as us changing to digital pizzas," before adding the kicker: "They took Blockbuster from us. Now the gaming aisle."
The pile-on didn't stop at fast food chains.
Trevor Noah, game preservation, and the real stakes
Former late night host Trevor Noah used his platform to make a more pointed argument. He highlighted that physical discs are often the only affordable entry point for many players, since second-hand copies eventually drop in price significantly. He also pointed to the fact that younger siblings often inherit games this way, which is how a lot of people get introduced to gaming in the first place.
Noah also connected Sony's disc decision to a separate announcement made the same week: Sony confirmed it will remove over 550 digitally purchased films from customers' PlayStation Store libraries due to rights issues. His conclusion was blunt. If your entire game library only exists digitally, it can disappear overnight because you never technically owned it.
Former Battlefield director David Goldfarb publicly backed Noah's take. The game preservation account Does it Play? added that the loss of physical media removes a key word-of-mouth discovery channel, which historically drives game sales.
The industry fires back with receipts
Retro and indie console maker Blaze Entertainment, which produces the cartridge-based Evercade consoles, published a parody of Sony's own 2013 "this is how you share your games on PS4" video. That clip, which showed one person simply handing a disc to another, became a viral symbol of consumer-friendly policy when it originally dropped as a dig at Microsoft's then-controversial Xbox One DRM plans. Seeing it resurface now, repurposed against Sony itself, is a full-circle moment that hasn't been lost on anyone paying attention.
Here's the thing: the backlash isn't just about nostalgia or collector sentiment. The practical concerns around ownership, resale value, lending, and long-term access are real, and the gaming community has been making these arguments for years. Sony's announcement just gave those arguments a very specific deadline.
What this means for PS6 and the broader console market
Analysts are already reading the disc announcement as a strong signal that PS6 will launch as a digital-only console, with a release window no earlier than 2028. That would put it well past the current PS5 generation's expected lifespan.
Microsoft is heading in a similar direction. Its next-gen console, codenamed Project Helix, is reportedly launching without a disc drive. The difference is that Microsoft is said to be exploring a disc-to-digital conversion feature, where inserting a physical disc into a compatible device would generate a permanent digital license. Whether that actually ships remains to be seen, but it at least acknowledges the transition cost for players with existing physical libraries.
What most players miss in these announcements is that the shift to all-digital isn't just about convenience or storage. It removes consumer protections that physical ownership provides, including the right to resell, lend, and retain access even if a storefront shuts down.
If you're currently gaming on PS5 and want to get the most out of your setup before the format changes, check out our best PS5 and Xbox settings guide for Battlefield REDSEC or our tips on how to disable PS5 adaptive triggers in Battlefield 6 for a smoother competitive experience. For more guides across the biggest games right now, the GAMES.GG guides hub has you covered.
The dust hasn't fully settled yet. Retailers, game historians, and preservation groups are still processing what January 2028 actually means in practice, and Sony has not yet addressed the growing backlash directly.
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