PlayStation boycott over Sony's disc-free future fails to move the needle

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Facepalm: Disgruntled gamers recently tried to send Sony a message, asking the Japanese corporation to stop killing the physical game market. According to some analysts, that effort failed spectacularly. Is the "disc" dead for good, at least on PlayStation platforms?

Sony keeps saying that digital games are the future of the industry and that players will no longer own anything tangible on their shelves. However, some customers are trying to force Sony to reconsider its unprecedented decision regarding physical game releases. So far, the loud minority's efforts have not achieved any practical results.

According to Mat Piscatella, senior director and video game industry aadvisor at data analytics company Circana, there was no significant change in player count or "engagement" following the organized boycott against PlayStation.

A few weeks ago, some users announced that they would not use any "digital" feature of Sony's platform – including gaming – until the company decided to reverse its 2028 plans.

Asked about the outcome of the "no disc, no buy" boycott, Piscatella said on Bluesky that Circana's tracking uncovered no evidence of any actual impact. However, some users suggest that Circana's conclusion about the boycott's outcome might be an overstatement. After all, analysts were not attempting to measure the specific impact of the planned digital blackout, instead focusing on "routine" activity among US players without any actual sales data in the mix.

The alleged failure of the players' boycott could be explained in several different ways. The boycott "movement" had no specific organization or significant reach on social networks, as many console gamers might be unaware of the latest developments in the video game industry.

Asking people to stay away from their consoles during the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta phase didn't help, either. The simplest explanation might be that many players are simply happy with things as they are. Sony's official figures appear to confirm that a majority of customers now purchase their games in digital format.

Either way, Sony's decision to leave the physical game market is likely to fuel an industry-wide debate for years to come. The company is trying to prove in court that gamers are fully aware that they don't own digital games, despite often stating the opposite. Meanwhile, Xbox is currently working on a plan to turn disc-based purchases into digital titles, while Nintendo is still selling "some" Switch games on physical cartridges.

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PlayStation boycott over Sony's disc-free future fails to move the needle

 

[Squuiid]

Leaves the door wide open for Xbox to win back some gamers.
Unfortunately it's Microsoft we're talking about here.

 

[PXAbstraction]

This is exactly what I expected, though I wish I was wrong. Complaining about something online (especially when it's the current trend) is easy. Actually sacrificing convenience or being able to get the new hotness (I.e. GTA VI) to support the cause is way more than most are willing to do over things like this.

PlayStation killing physical discs sucks, but...

Sony is killing physical media for PlayStation and many are upset. I get it, but it also doesn't matter as much as they think.

geekbravado.com

 

[NumberNine]

As if gamers would suddenly agree to stop buying video games and actually follow through. Social media "movements" are about likes, not results. I have more productive movements on the toilet. Sony has the leverage and the bank to soak up temporary rage, especially when you've already bought in.

Reat assured though, where there's a CDN, there's a way. Temporary outrage is not the way. Time for a permanent lifestyle change. The kind of change where if Sony goes under, you wouldn't notice.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

I've ditched consoles years ago, but yeah complaining online about poor business practices is not going to do much, at least by itself. If console gamers want changes they are going to need to start complaining to their state's attorney general, and the FTC, and do so in an organized manner that will get them to some political notice. And then it still might take years of dedicated work. (See how farmers used this method to reign in John Deere's consumer hostile DRM methods, which were honestly not to dissimilar to current console business practices.)

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

The boycott failed because most people don't care. They weren't buying physical games in the first place, so why would they care about selling the physical games they didn't get? GameStop's change in business strategy is proof of that. Wouldn't GameStop be a key opponent if they thought physical Playstation game purchases/resale mattered?

 

[yRaz]

The point of the protest wasn't that the gamers thought Sony would care, it was to bring attention to the issue by people who otherwise wouldn't know about it and it succeeded very well. You know, considering that Sony seems to have replaced their PR team with AI

 

[Megalomaniac]

Sony will tell you the next release date.
You'll all be lined up around Gamestop and Best Buy waiting.
Like trained lemmings.

 

[pnntmp]

Looks like the "boycott" remained largely unnoticed.
If the vast majority is not interested in physical media, Sony has no reason to maintain the technology.
If the assessment that the vast vast majority is not interested is wrong, that's an opportunity for someone else.

 

[GABulldog]

While people were screaming boycott, Sony was laughing behind the scenes. The boycott was hardly going to put a scratch into Sony's overall user numbers. Sony don't care about the gamers and most gamers don't really care how they get the game. If it's a choice of spending an hour driving round trip to Game Stop or spending about 3 minutes buying the game online, which one do you think people will pick? A choice of having to put your clothes on, dealing with traffic and wasting gas or sit on your couch in your pj's ordering online.

People are going to pick the path of least resistance.

 

[m4a4]

The boycott (lol expecting gamers to band together, when they can't even not preorder a digital game) was never going to work for the short term. But sentiment shifts slowly, and being that Sony is the worst of the big 3 this generation, they'll feel it later.

Heck, Sony can't even figure out how to consistently put out good games anymore. The most recent ones have largely been mediocre, canceled after a few weeks, re-remakes/re-remasters, or safe. This console generation has been the most disappointing to date, and I don't see them as having enough good will or pull to even successfully launch their disc-less next-gen console.

 

[Jarenien]

That's cuz only the very vocal, very minority care. The rest of us have been using digital-only already for decades, so who gives a sheet.

 

[OortCloud]

I don't think we will see the impact of all this until they try to sell digital-only PS6's for $1000 with $90 games only available via the PS Store for you to lease. At that point I can't see a very rosy future for the brand.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

That's cuz only the very vocal, very minority care. The rest of us have been using digital-only already for decades, so who gives a sheet.

Going all digital on PC is very different.

Sony will tell you the next release date.
You'll all be lined up around Gamestop and Best Buy waiting.
Like trained lemmings.

Nah. PS4 was my last Sony console. I decided to hold off on the ps5 because the 4s software library was extremely mid and offered nothing over the PC, and the 5s library never materialized. Couple that with Sonya recently actions and I'm perfectly content to just keep my ps4 and never touch the 6.

 

[OortCloud]

Sony will tell you the next release date.
You'll all be lined up around Gamestop and Best Buy waiting.
Like trained lemmings.

Are you this unpleasant, arrogant,patronising and superior in real life or just when posting online?

 

[MaestroIT]

PC gaming stopped being physical long ago. Who builds a gaming pc with optical drives? PC Cases has no place for an optical drive...

All games are digital on Steam or similar platforms

 

[Fimbulvetr]

All I can say is, I bought a PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 and PS5. But I'm not buying a PS6. Sony is doing this to remove your option to buy a used copy, to force everyone to pay full-price every time to them and only them. Screw that, and screw Sony.

 

[OortCloud]

All I can say is, I bought a PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 and PS5. But I'm not buying a PS6. Sony is doing this to remove your option to buy a used copy, to force everyone to pay full-price every time to them and only them. Screw that, and screw Sony.

I agree. I also won't buy a PS6 and have already binned PS Plus. Strictly PC from now on.

 

[Rumiku]

I sold my PS5’s and PSVR2’s. I only even jumped back into Sony when Microsoft did the same thing with the XBone (and why I won’t bother getting an XBox ever, either). The way Sony has handled the issue, with the retort of “sit down, you’ll tire of complaining and still buy from us, plebs”. Sadly they are largely right; at least for now. However, that scummy response was enough to have me toss it aside and build a “steam box” of sorts, with an emphasis on GOG. Sony exclusives? So many games exist, I won’t notice.

I’m already looking into 100GB BD-R’s for archival of GOG and Steam games. If I have to live digitally, it won’t be at the hands of a corp that literally talked down to its consumers amid a backlash. It’s even more tone deaf that Microsoft.

YMMV. This is just my viewpoint. Unlike most faux outrage tiktock folks , I’ll follow through. Sony can DIAF.

 

[Taroo]

I don't think we will see the impact of all this until they try to sell digital-only PS6's for $1000 with $90 games only available via the PS Store for you to lease. At that point I can't see a very rosy future for the brand.

That's how I foresee it too.
What would be best is if the regulation changes before that point and force them to rename the big button from "Buy" to "Temporary, revocable license".

 

[The Talking Tech]

Sadly gamers are just pure talk no action and that's why these companies like Sony got them by the balls.

 

[Puiu]

The needle will be felt for console sales.

 

[Puiu]

Sadly gamers are just pure talk no action and that's why these companies like Sony got them by the balls.

Wrong, gamers will 100% vote with their wallet, like with many other situations. If Sony wants to shoot itself in the foot then they are free to do so.

The only short term saving grace for playstation are the high prices of new PCs and Xbox's inability to f themselves at every chance they get.

 

[Jarenien]

The needle will be felt for console sales.

Lol, it won't hurt it in the slightest. PS5P is selling so fast that it can't even stay on shelves, it is out of stock pretty much everywhere lately, and same will be for PS6, because, guess what, Sony exclusives are dynamite. You dumb dumbs go ahead and boycott it, the couple hundred of you, while the rest of us are enjoying gaming bliss.

 

[Puiu]

Lol, it won't hurt it in the slightest. PS5P is selling so fast that it can't even stay on shelves, it is out of stock pretty much everywhere lately, and same will be for PS6, because, guess what, Sony exclusives are dynamite. You dumb dumbs go ahead and boycott it, the couple hundred of you, while the rest of us are enjoying gaming bliss.

Sure dude, unicorns will save PS6.

"Sony exclusives are dynamite" - they haven't been "dynamite" in a long time.

The only way PS6 will have good sales is if PC prices remain at an all time high going past 2029.