Sony Won’t Bring Back Physical PS5 Games Anytime Soon

Despite growing backlash from physical-game enthusiasts, industry reports suggest Sony has no plans to reconsider its move toward disc-less PlayStation releases in 2028.

Rumors have been swirling about a controversial decision to ditch physical game releases. Still, rumors of a reversal may be getting ahead of themselves. Richard Browne, a longtime game industry professional, said there was no sign at Gamescom that Sony is modifying its policy, with publishers allegedly still following the company's guidelines for discless releases starting in 2028.

The report was met with skepticism, especially since it claimed a major publisher had threatened to withdraw its titles from PlayStation if Sony did not continue to support physical releases. Publishers obviously care about consumer goodwill, but it's hard to rationalize a major gaming company abandoning a platform with tens of millions of players over physical media.

That seems harder to accept when you consider the huge costs behind today's greatest games.

Not putting it out on PlayStation would mean a publisher spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a big release would be throwing away a huge potential audience. Even a corporation that is nice to consumers would have to balance that against the commercial reality of losing millions of potential purchases. CD Projekt Red, for example, has proved that consumer goodwill can be quite valuable to a publisher.

Still, there's a big difference between giving generous upgrades or backing gamers or actively pulling a game from a giant platform. It would be a hell of a business choice for a game like The Witcher 4 to forgo PlayStation sales to protest the lack of physical distribution. But the bigger question is whether the reaction around physical games could make Sony think again.

Plenty of online criticism has emerged, but social-media indignation alone is unlikely to influence the company’s direction. A measurable shift in customer behavior would matter far more. For Sony to take the matter seriously, players would have to abandon the PlayStation ecosystem in large numbers, not just short boycotts. A week-long blackout is meaningless if those same buyers return when that big release hits, be it Wolverine or Grand Theft Auto VI.

That’s probably the largest thing standing in the way of the physical-media movement. Many serious collectors certainly cherish physical games, but the number of PlayStation gamers who would really leave the platform over the issue may be rather tiny. Physical sales are crucial, but digital sales are becoming increasingly important.

The lack of a strong alternative further complicates a large consumer move.

PC gaming is a big hardware investment for many gamers. XBOX has its own issues with pricing and physical media. With no rival platform offering a wildly different strategy, Sony has little financial reason to shift course anytime soon. The physical games debate continues, but the PlayStation 5 Pro seems to be doing really well in the USA. The console is already sold out at big shops including PlayStation Direct; however, its price has reportedly risen to roughly $900.

But supply limits could be a big factor. So a shortage isn’t always about incredible demand. Chip-related limitations are still keeping PS5 Pro production from reaching the quantities you may expect. Limited supply is also reflected in reports that resellers have been offering devices on eBay for between $1,200 and $1,500.

Grand Theft Auto VI may also be stoking interest in Sony's premium platform, though expectations for a drastically beefed-up PS5 Pro edition should definitely be kept modest. It uses the same underlying CPU architecture as the standard PS5, and that could be a major drawback for a massive open-world game like GTA VI. The Pro can deliver more graphical detail and maybe better use technologies like PSSR, but the CPU could limit the game to a steady 60 frames per second.

You'd definitely want 60 FPS mode, especially for something like an open-world action game like GTA VI, where the difference between 30 and 60 FPS may be huge. Historically, though, Rockstar has been very good at milking numerous generations of revenue out of its titles. Grand Theft Auto V was released across multiple generations, and Red Dead Redemption 2 also has versions across multiple platforms.

That approach could extend to GTA VI, giving Rockstar another excuse to hold off on major performance jumps until future hardware.

If the PS5 version launches at 30 FPS and a future PlayStation 6 or XBOX successor version launches at 60 FPS, it could give players another reason to buy the game again later. 

Rockstar has lots of experience in prolonging the commercial life of its biggest products. For now, the PS5 Pro remains a solid premium console, particularly for those who bought it at launch in November 2024 and have already experienced enhanced versions of games like Resident Evil Requiem, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and upcoming titles like Wolverine.

But with the next generation of consoles perhaps looming, it's tough to recommend picking one up today for $900 or more. If you already own a PS5, it might be better to continue with the conventional system.