Sony confirms end of physical discs for new PlayStation releases: anti-harassment rules follow backlash

Sony has confirmed that starting in January 2028, every new PlayStation release, third-party games included, will stop shipping on physical discs. If you’re buying a brand-new PlayStation game after that, you won’t be picking up a boxed copy anymore.

According to Sony, this lines up with how people already shop. Nearly 80% of full-game purchases on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 during the last fiscal year were digital, and that climbed to 85% in Q1 2026. The company is now adding warnings to PlayStation 5 boxes and giving retailers a window to move over to download-code sales.

The backlash is already easy to spot: complaints, criticism across social media, and calls for a boycott.

Sony has also introduced an anti-harassment policy in Japan for support staff. Under that policy, people who are threatening, abusive, or plainly unreasonable can have their access limited, and in some cases Sony says the response could go as far as legal or criminal action.

If ownership matters to you, or if you buy discs so you can resell them, lend them out, collect them, or keep games preserved, this is something to keep an eye on.

Even more so because the Video Game History Foundation has warned that piracy could end up being the only practical way to preserve games, while Mexican lawmakers and a Dutch consumer group have raised concerns about competition and pricing. Microsoft and Nintendo, for their part, say they aren’t taking the same all-digital route.

So from January 2028 on, new PlayStation releases will be sold either through Sony’s digital store or at retail as download codes.