PlayStation | The Verge

Sony pushes forward with ditching discs, despite backlash

2026-07-31T07:23:23-04:00

Sony has received a lot of backlash from PlayStation fans since announcing that it's killing physical game disc production, but that hasn't swayed its decision. During Sony's latest earnings call, chief financial officer Lin Tao said that while the company "put in a lot of thought and time" when considering the opposition put forward by its gaming community, Sony has come to the conclusion that it will "cautiously move this forward."

"There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing, that's the big factor," Tao said through an interpreter. "It's not just for P …

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The PlayStation replica ornament is an homage to a great, yet fragile console

2026-07-20T16:06:40-04:00

The ornament requires three 1.5-volt coin batteries, which are included in the box. | Photo: Cameron Faulkner/The Verge

You probably know the signature PlayStation boot sound. Did you know that it's technically a multi-part chime? There's the synthy section where "Sony Computer Entertainment" shows onscreen with a white background. You only get to the next screen with the echo-y chimes and the color-filled PlayStation logo if your console recognizes the disc. How badly I wanted my sorta-broken console to get to that second screen.

My console's disc spindle came apart pretty early into me owning it. As an eight-year-old kid, fixing the spindle was the riskiest undertaking of my life yet. The internet wasn't really a haven for how-tos yet, so I superglued that …

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The PS6 sure sounds like a handheld

2026-07-14T19:54:46-04:00

The PlayStation Portal — not a new PS6. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

The video game industry is in turmoil. Microsoft and Sony are starting to pivot to their next consoles, but it's not looking great: Prices are soaring, Sony is killing the video game disc, and Microsoft is jettisoning studios ahead of the transition. What could entice people to pay?

On the Xbox front, we genuinely can't say. But on June 5th, Sony dropped an unusual number of hints about the future of PlayStation in an investor "business meeting" Q&A.

This Q&A arrived a month before Sony announced the end of PlayStation discs. But when I reread it with the death of discs in mind… it hits differently. Let's walk through it, shall we?

Pa …

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Sony delays its new PS5 fight stick

2026-07-14T12:50:28-04:00

Sony is delaying the launch of its FlexStrike fight stick controller for PS5 and PC, which had been set to launch on August 6th, to an unspecified date in the future. The company blames the delayed launch on "unexpected production delays." The original planned launch of the FlexStrike would have lined up with the release date of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a Marvel-themed fighting game developed by Arc System Works that PlayStation is publishing.

"We wanted to share an update on the launch timing for FlexStrike wireless fight stick," Sony says in an update to a PlayStation blog post about the controller and other accessories. "Due to unex …

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Where to preorder Grand Theft Auto VI

2026-07-02T16:41:14-04:00

A look at in-game cosmetics you’ll get with the Ultimate edition. | Image: Rockstar Games

Rockstar's long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI is launching November 19th, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X consoles. The game will be available digitally at launch, with physical cases containing codes, not discs, so your options for preordering are straightforward. The preloading phase for the game begins on November 12th, which should give you plenty of time to install the game.

There are two versions of the game to choose from, the $79.99 Standard and $99.99 Ultimate editions. Both include the same preorder perks. You'll get the Vintage Vice City Pack when the game launches. It's a set of in-game items that includes vehicles, we …

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Sony’s PlayStation disc factory is already being repurposed

2026-07-02T22:12:19-04:00

The video game disc is dead, and Sony's been planning to kill it for some time, according to a report out of Austria. The man who leads Sony's discmaking operations, Sony DADC president Dietmar Tanzer, told ORF Salzburg that the company's Thalgau plant produces 600,000 discs every day, half of which are for PlayStation. But since it'll only be making 10 percent of that volume in 2028, it's planning to retrain all 300 employees to work on optical microlenses instead.

Thalgau isn't just one of Sony's disc plants. It's where the disc-making division is headquartered, and appears to be its only remaining wholly owned disc manufacturing facility …

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The funeral for PlayStation discs has begun

2026-07-01T18:03:37-04:00

Cody Spencer, the co-owner of the small games retail chain Pink Gorilla Games, put it well when I asked about the impact of Sony's recent announcement that it will stop making discs for new games starting January 2028. "It's sad to see. This decision is only a negative for gamers. We're losing the ability to sell games, to share games, and to own games."

Sony's announcement has been devastating news for many in the games industry. Not just players, but also groups like independent retail stores and preservationists that try and make gaming more accessible.

"This is unfortunate news for those who still prefer buying games on physical media, …

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Sony is killing discs — and showing us why it’s a terrible idea

2026-07-01T10:55:42-04:00

The future of video game preservation just took a major hit. This morning, Sony announced that, starting in January 2028, the company will no longer produce physical PlayStation discs, which means that from that moment on you can only purchase new PS5 games digitally. At the same time, Sony also announced that it's going to start winding down the digital stores for both the PS3 and PS Vita, helpfully illustrating one of the most pertinent issues with a digital-only future for gaming: Once the stores are gone, so are the games. It's a terrible blow for preservation of the medium.

In a lot of ways, both announcements seemed inevitable. It's c …

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Sony is closing the PS3 and Vita digital stores

2026-07-01T09:17:54-04:00

It's the end of an era for the PlayStation store on PS3 and PS Vita, with Sony now planning to shut down its digital distribution service on both consoles. The PlayStation store on PS3 will close in select markets later this year, including Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua starting in August, with "additional Latin American and Middle Eastern countries" to follow in late 2026.

The shutdown across both PS3 and PS Vita "in all other countries" will take effect in July 2027. After this date, Sony says that console owners will be unable to purchase new content, but can continue downloading games they've previously purchased "for the foreseeable …

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Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs

2026-07-01T11:50:02-04:00

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro doesn’t even feature a disc drive. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony has announced that from January 2028 it will entirely stop the production of physical discs for new PlayStation games. From that point onwards, new releases will only be available in digital versions from the PlayStation Store and other retailers. Games released before January 2028 will still be available on disc.

"This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs," Sony said in its announcement. "This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games to …

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