Asura Kagawa
- Nintendo is adding digital gifting to its eShop, which leaves the PlayStation Store as the last storefront without it, just as Sony goes digital-only.
- It's hard to believe Sony would commit to a digital-only future in January 2028 without already planning this.
Nintendo is adding digital gifting to its eShop, which leaves the PlayStation Store as the last storefront without it, just as Sony goes digital-only.
If you buy your games on PlayStation, you're now the odd one out. Nintendo has confirmed that the Nintendo eShop is getting game gifting, which leaves Sony as the only major platform without it. Nintendo has long been playing catch-up on the digital side, so when even its storefront has a feature the PlayStation Store lacks, Sony looks clearly behind the times.
A recent system update for the Switch 2 has already laid the groundwork, and the Nintendo eShop feature goes live next week. You'll be able to gift digital games to people in your Nintendo Account family group. That's more limited than XBOX and Steam, where you can send a game to anyone on your friends list.
The family group tops out at eight members who all share one Nintendo Switch Online membership. It's narrower than what other stores offer, but it beats having no game gifting whatsoever. Even in that limited form, game gifting is now something every storefront is expected to have.
No game gifting is exactly what you get on the PlayStation Store today. From January 2028, Sony is going fully digital, and production of physical copies for new titles will end. That makes the PlayStation Store the only place to buy new PS5 and PS6 games, so players are paying closer attention to how it works.
Not being able to send a game to a friend or family member is a real problem for a digital-only storefront, and with the Switch 2 supporting the feature, Sony has run out of excuses. Game gifting is no longer a nice extra. Until Sony adds game gifting, the PlayStation Store will keep looking behind the other platforms.
It's hard to believe Sony would commit to a digital-only future in January 2028 without already planning this.
Expect a lot of changes and announcements for the PlayStation Store over the next 12 to 14 months, whether that's game gifting or other upgrades, because if they don't arrive, it becomes a major problem for Sony and everyone who plays on PlayStation. A launch of game gifting well before the physical cutoff would be the sensible move.
Right now it looks pretty bad that the Switch 2 and the Nintendo eShop are getting features that Sony's platform doesn't have. Sony needs to get it together. Still, it makes sense to give the company a little time. When it starts talking about its next-gen platform, it'll have to acknowledge issues like this, and if Sony stays quiet on game gifting, players will be loud about it. For now, PlayStation remains the only storefront without game gifting.
