Sony dropped a bombshell last week. Starting January 2028, physical disc production for new PlayStation games ends. No new discs. No disc drive on the PS6 (at least, that's where every analyst is pointing). Just download codes in boxes, or nothing at all.
The backlash was immediate. But one response has turned into something harder to ignore.
Get 1-month GTA+ subscription with pre-order.
Pre-Order GTA 6 Now
How a Canadian retailer turned frustration into 115,000 voices
PNP Games, an independent video game retailer based in Canada, launched a Change.org petition titled "Don't Kill the Disc" within days of Sony's announcement. The ask is straightforward: tell Sony to keep physical PlayStation games as a real, permanent option. As of this writing, the petition has collected 115,471 signatures.
That number matters. Petitions come and go, but crossing six figures in a matter of days signals something beyond casual discontent.
Jade Pearce of PNP Games framed the issue as bigger than any single retailer's bottom line. "Physical games support an entire industry that an all-digital future quietly erases: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, the pre-owned and trade-in market, and the collector and preservation community," Pearce said. "That is thousands of jobs and countless small businesses."
The petition's comments read like a greatest hits of physical media grievances. One signatory from Sun City Center, Florida, put it plainly: "I've been a gamer on the PlayStation platform since the PS1 days... I'm a physical media gamer, and I refuse to support any gaming company that tells me I don't have the option to own physical media."
The key here is the word "option." PNP Games isn't asking Sony to abandon digital. Pearce said it directly: “We are not against digital. We are against digital being the only option.”
Sony's position and the numbers behind it
Sony hasn't budged. Sid Shuman, Senior Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, described the move as "a natural direction" driven by shifting consumer preferences. The company says digital now represents the clear majority of how players buy games.
The data backs that up to a point. Back in 2013 when the PS4 launched, digital accounted for roughly 13% of full game unit sales on Sony consoles. By 2025, that figure had climbed to nearly 80%. The trend is real, and Sony is betting the remaining 20% of physical buyers won't walk.
There's also a financial logic that's hard to argue with. Publishers selling through physical retail typically keep around 50% of the sale price after retailer margins and distribution costs. On the PlayStation Store, publishers keep 70%. Going all-digital means more money for everyone in the software chain, including Sony. Sony's share price actually rose after the announcement, which tells you where institutional money thinks this lands.
Cheaper hardware is part of the calculus too. Removing a disc drive reduces manufacturing costs at a time when component prices remain elevated. Analysts broadly expect the PS6 to arrive in late 2028, conveniently timed around that January disc production cutoff.
Why the backlash has legs even if the petition doesn't win
Here's the thing: petitions rarely reverse corporate decisions of this scale. Sony has the numbers, the shareholder support, and a clear financial incentive pointing one direction. Robin Zhu, a games analyst at Bernstein, was blunt about it: "If gamers and preservationists had bought more physical games, Sony wouldn't have seen the digital sales ratios that justify this decision."
That's a cold read, but it's probably accurate.
What the petition does accomplish is documentation. It puts 115,000 names on record as people who feel ownership, preservation, and retail access matter. The collector community, the trade-in market, the small retailers like PNP Games, and the players who simply want to own a shelf of games they can resell or lend, none of these groups are fringe. They're just outnumbered by the players who switched to digital years ago and never looked back.
The broader cultural fallout has been real. KFC, Domino's, and various public figures have weighed in on Sony's announcement, which is the kind of mainstream attention that usually signals a story has moved beyond gaming forums into general public consciousness. Whether that translates into any pressure Sony feels compelled to address is a separate question.
For players who want to stay across every major gaming story as it develops, the gaming guides and news coverage on our site keeps you current without the noise. And if you're filling the time between now and any potential Sony response with actual games, the Planet of Lana II secret hologram guide and the Adventures of Elliot missable quests guide are worth bookmarking.
The petition stays live. Sony's position, for now, does not appear to be moving.
