ITS OVER Sony Interactive Entertainment to end physical game disc production in January 2028

[EricHiggin]

EricHiggin said:

curl-6 said:

Could be that he's selling high after stocks went up with the announcement of physical being discontinued, but before something like the announcement of another price hike or low hardware sales brings stock back down.

This was my first thought. I'm guessing the CEO is thinking 1 of 2 things is going to happen:

1. The verbal revolt will be so massive that PS will have no choice but to backtrack to some degree, leading to the stock price dropping somewhat.

2. The revolt just may become financial and gamers will speak with their wallets, leading to the stock price dropping a considerable amount.

Either outcome means if he wants to cash out to some degree, now is a good time.

It's also very well possible, as you've stated, that there may be unrelated bad news on the way bringing the stock price down even further.

To me, it's a good sign though. If the CEO was worried from the beginning, I'd say there's a good chance of a partial or full backtrack.

curl-6 said:

The thing is, while those who collect physical games may be only say 20% of whatever of your total userbase, the thing is, they're also likely to be some of the most dedicated members of said base who buy/collect the most games, spend the most money, and engage with your platform most actively.

So while they may be a minority, you're also pissing off some of your hardcore and lucrative customers.

On second thought, it might not be a good sign. It could also be a bad sign.

If SNY really and truly are ditching physical media altogether, then something else important to take into consideration, as you said, is that these gamers tend to be hardcore, if not the most hardcore, and spend or have spent over decades, a ridiculous amount of money within the PS ecosystem.

This very well may indicate that SNY has chosen to ditch these whales and focus more so on the casual masses. The CEO selling so much stock during this period could be for that reason instead, and not what I initially suggested. The CEO would know that once this became clear, the hardcore whales will very likely feel betrayed and abandon PS6, or SNY outright, causing PS to take a financial hit. At least until PS6 launches anyway, assuming the casuals eat it up and buy in. If the stock is likely going to drop because of that in the somewhat near future (and/or for additional reasons), then best to sell now, especially since this move would be a little risky as to the future outcome not being a necessary lock.

This would lead me to believe, if correct, that the rumored $1000 PS6 isn't launching, ever. If SNY isn't going to cater to the hardcore physical crowd any longer, then why bother catering to the hardcore hardware crowd? If you're ditching the whales, then...

Instead, SNY could in this case, only launch the handheld, and probably a 'PS6 Lite', which they would call the PS6. Unless they've been working overtime on a new cheap console design in the background, that hasn't leaked yet, I'd assume that also means the PS6 and handheld would share a lot of the same internal hardware.

Not only would this save on upfront costs, since the handheld internals would be cheaper vs the $1000 PS6, but SNY should be able to get an even better parts deal due to mass manufacturing for basically one piece of hardware (handheld + PS6 Lite) and not two different pieces (handheld + $1000 PS6). SNY would also be able to make way more APU's since the handheld APU is much much smaller than the $1000 PS6 APU, so no hardware shortages or scalping to worry about. It would, once again, keep the hardware very simple to make games for by only having one internal hardware config to dev for.

If the PS6 Lite and handheld were around PS5 performance, even with some bells and whistles, then it's going to be a (very) difficult sell to the hardcore audience. What do you do if you can't get them to transfer from PS5 (Pro) to PS6 in that case? One option is just ditch them and focus on being as efficient as possible for the casuals. Which would allow you to make moves like drop physical media because the casuals really couldn't care less for the most part. While this would lose PS many big spenders, it would overall grow profits by being so much more efficient up front. If SNY was really lucky, they end up in a sort of casual Wii generation where they actually grow their audience and make even more money.

While possible, SNY could even go with just the PS6 handheld, that boosts in the dock, just like a Nin Switch, and not even bother with the PS6 Lite type console. That makes everything even simpler, more efficient, and maybe even allows them to subsidize even more for an even cheaper entry cost to 10th gen. It would also make a much better excuse for why they ditched physical discs (though would still leave the question as to why no disc drive (attachment) in the dock or why no game carts).

I'm not convinced about my initial thought or this more recent one, but both make sense depending on what SNY is planning on doing going forward. Maybe both are right and that one outcome is plan 'A' while the other outcome is plan 'B'. Then again, maybe both are way off.

Last edited by EricHiggin - on 13 July 2026