Earlier today, Sony dropped a bombshell, announcing that it's ending physical game disc production from 2028, which essentially means that any games released after that point will be digital only. It called this a "natural direction" for the company, citing consumer trends which indicate a preference for digital purchases. While it certainly makes sense from a business perspective, I do think it's a disaster for the gaming community in general.
But before you give this opinion some weight, it's perhaps better to know more about me so that you can evaluate if I'm someone even worth listening to. I started gaming with the PlayStation 1 in the late 1990s, transitioned to the PlayStation 2, followed by an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 4, and now, a PlayStation 5. This is only a list of my home consoles; handheld hardware includes the Nintendo Switch Lite and the Nintendo Switch OLED.
Even with the Xbox 360, I initially purchased physical media, but as I began to realize the benefits of digital purchases such as immediate checkouts, downloads, and no risk of wear and tear, I slowly began to buy digital media too, just like the rest of the world.
As things currently stand, I don't have a strong preference for either format, but I do lean towards physical media if there's a "special" edition involved or if the price is slightly better. However, I would say that 80% of my titles on the PlayStation 5 in the past couple of years have been digital only, primarily because I heavily use my PlayStation Plus subscription.
