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Sony is killing discs — and showing us why it’s a terrible idea
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Sony is killing discs — and showing us why it’s a terrible idea
When digital stores shut down, games get lost alongside them. Welcome to the digital-only future.
When digital stores shut down, games get lost alongside them. Welcome to the digital-only future.
by Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Senior entertainment editor
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Jul 1, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC
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Part Of Keeping the classics alive: how archivists are preserving video game history see all updates
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
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Follow See All by Andrew Webster
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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 clear that consumers have largely — though not entirely — shifted to buying games digitally. According to Sony’s most recent financial results from May, around 80 percent of PS5 games sold are digital. Meanwhile, just last week, Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar Games announced that when the next GTA shows up in retail stores in November, it will actually just be a code in a box, with no disc.
Digital games are in some ways more convenient for players. You can prep downloads in advance, keep a big library of games on a single console, and take advantage of frequent sales. There are also some notable immediate drawbacks, like the inability to sell used games or simply share a copy with a friend. From the publisher’s perspective, digital games are more lucrative for Sony and its contemporaries, who no longer have to deal with the costs of producing discs.
But a more hidden cost to the digital shift comes in the form of preserving video games.
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