It’s official: PlayStation consoles are doing away with physical game discs for new titles starting in January 2028, making digital the only release format going forward. Sid Shulman, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s senior director of content communications, detailed PlayStation’s plans for physical media in a terse PlayStation Blog post. He called the end of disc-based titles a “natural direction” for the brand.
You’ll only be able to buy new games digitally through the PlayStation Store or as a download code in a box that can be redeemed online. Shulman said the “transition has no impact on games that already released” and clarified that any title that was already planned to have a disc version will still be available as a physical copy, for now. The one game we already know won’t be available as a physical copy is Grand Theft Auto VI. Publisher Take-Two Interactive has already confirmed that GTA VI will only be available digitally. More publishers will likely follow suit, meaning there will be fewer future releases with any disc version whatsoever. PlayStation cited one reason for ditching discs: “general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.” Mat Pscatella, Circana’s chief video game industry analyst, reported back in February that spending on physical video games reached an all-time low in 2025. The recent trends seem even more dire for fans of physical video games among PlayStation and Xbox gamers. Nintendo fans are still more likely to buy physical game cards, but the overall trends have ebbed by “double-digit percentages” across the other console ecosystems, according to Piscatella.
