Patrick / パトリック

Anime Otaku. Gamer. Will tweet randomly and sporadically about anime and games. Currently teaching English in Japan. 日本語も大丈夫です。

[ᑎEOᑎ @neonarcadegrant]

I'm seeing many people having a hard time understanding why Sony would make a number of unpopular "anti-consumer" moves in rapid sequence. You need to realize it's because you are no longer the consumer.

If you are one of the few who doesn't have a completely fried attention span, I can explain a bit of what's actually going on and why technology feels like shit now.

Many of us living through this shift grew up during a time when new tech felt exciting. Gaming consoles, arcade games, computers, and other devices were targeted directly at us, and evolution was rapid. Consumerism was always present, but so was abundant creativity, and companies’ stated goal was to generate profit by providing ways to make life more entertaining and enriching; marketing creative, innovative technology to own, maintain, and use.

With the rise of the Internet, this focus began to shift. Attention became the new commodity, as did the control of information. Engineering machines became less important than social engineering, and we became the product rather than the market. Aesthetic design, reparability, and functionality became pointless; none of that is required to extract information from you on an industrial scale.

The result of this shift is what we're beginning to see openly now: centralization via AI, mass surveillance, and ownership of absolutely nothing. This new model is built on profiling the most efficient ways to lock you into a maze of subscription services and endless debt, while giving you the means to distract yourself just enough to never become a threat to these objectives.

Understand that Sony is not doing anything here other than following the blueprint that many other tech companies and governments have drafted. They know it’s wildly unpopular, which is why the gaslighting is required. It’s why Sony’s short announcement of ending physical media uses the term, "As consumer preferences change..." four times. It’s to convince you that you have no choice, and that all of this is just technological determinism at work.

Technological determinism is a scam. You still have a free will choice. All you need to do is stop investing your time and money into a system that has zero benefit to you, and instead start enjoying older technology and tools that you can use and maintain; or even more importantly, support new stuff built like the old stuff was. Once enough “product” (i.e. you) is removed from the marketplace, it will cease to be useful to the people who built it. The machine will seize, and we can start making a lot of really cool things again. That’s all that is required.

In the words of Ferris Bueller, "The question isn't, 'What are we going to do?' The question is 'What aren't we going to do?'”

So, what aren't you going to do?

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

Everyone is talking about the digital-physical-split percentages. So we will too!

The TL;DR: Most of what has been parroted about consumer preference is wildly exaggerated at best, or a mix of a bad faith campaign and severe negligence at worst.

Sony has announced the death of physical media because of "changing consumer trends". Most of us can already smell the bullshit it in this fake excuse. It is when we take a closer look that we discover just how much of a lie that statement really is.

Let's start by scrutinizing the most repeated number lately: 85 % of sales are digital.

This number exists. But in what context?

It comes from the Fiscal Year Q4 report for 2025. ONLY IN THIS QUARTER did we get this number. The overall percentage for the entire year 2025 is "only" 78 %.

Still sounds bad. Where is the lie, then?

It comes with what both sides include. The digital part also accounts for digital-only games. AKA products which didn't give a choice to the customer. You could either add to the digital tally or not play these games at all. This alone should show you how they use statistics to deceive the public.

But we are not done.

If you look at honest comparisons, like those we got through the infamous Insomniac leaks in 2022, or certain market reports from the UK more recently, you will find games that even sell predominantly physical. Many of which are Sony's own first party titles. So their games sell more physical copies, but they still dare to use consumer preference as the excuse.

Not convinced?

Let's look at the even broader picture. Researching online we can find an infographic illustrating the development of the physical-digital split over the years. Admittedly, there is a constant decline for the physical share. Abysmal even in the years up to 2020. HOWEVER, in recent years the year on year decline has slowed down and has almost reached a stable plateau.

Oh, and have we mentioned that the vaaaaaaast majority of all players own a console that can read discs? 82 % is the number floating around online. We take a page out of Sony's book and just run with it for now. Only, let's add that even the other 18 % might not be digital-only die-hards. After all, there were times when both the disc console and the detachable disc drive were sold out at some point.

What would you say does that show about consumer preference?

Less than 18 % actually prefer digital.

Just with a little research we have come from "85 % prefer digital" to "less than a fifth of the customer base actually does".

So why does Sony push for a change? You know by now. Money!

Multiple areas they benefit in in an all-digital future:

1) Margins for digital games are simply better. The save the entire overhead for physical production, logistics, customer service/returns, retailer cuts, etc.

2) This is the big one: The death of the second hand market. Or at least they think that's beneficial, if they ignore the facts that second hand buyers can also contribute to digital revenue, and they help with discoverability/word of mouth advertising. We wouldn't be surprised if this comes back to haunt Sony.

3) Pricing monopoly: They set the prices. They decide discounts. They decide the number of sales that happen, if any.

The key word is REVENUE!

Because that is another great opportunity to play with alarming numbers. The revenue percentage split between digital and physical makes the gap look even wider, of course. Despite selling almost 70 million physical copies, that area generated relatively low revenue. It accounts for only a little over 10 % of the revenue generated by game sales.

That's the moment when "reliable" analysts and "quality" media could formulate headlines like "Physical media is dying - Makes up only 10 %". But that's not alarmist enough. They can do one "better".

You might ask, "But DoesItPlay?, why do I see people claim that the gaming space is over 95 % digital?"

Let's reveal the most evil trick of them all, shall we?

Let's take a look at that FY 2025 report again. The overall category is called "Game Software". In here (and subsequently in the blogs of the anti-physical crowd) the biggest lie materializes. "Game Software" does not only include digital and physical game sales. It also accounts for ANY TYPE OF ADDITIONAL CONTENT (expansions, in-game currency, microtransactions of all sorts) and "Other Software", which is not even specified as to what that could be exactly. If we now lump all of this together and check the percentage of physical game revenue, we land at roughly 4,7 %.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the single biggest gaslighting this industry has pulled on you when it comes to lying about consumer preference.

It was never about consumer preference. It was about maximizing profits and control over what should be rightfully yours after a purchase.

[IngameHector 🎮 @IngameHector]

I don't buy physical games. I much prefer digital purchases. You won't catch me celebrating Sony's move away from physical games though. Having options is healthy for the industry.
Whatever is going on is not.

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

@OhRichard271 @PkMOfTheDay @THEWAYOFGJ @STORM__MASTER That’s a straight up lie lol you absolutely still can redownload wii games. Also game key cards are just nintendo naming what ps and xbox have already been doing but they’re at least upfront about it. Also the key card is not attached to your account so you can still resell etc.

[Matthew @Batman_Beware]

The argument that not enough people buy physical games is such a poor excuse from Sony

What’s the ratio of people buying vinyls to streaming music?

What’s the ratio for buying physical movies to streaming?

The option should always be there and I will die on this hill

[Vide💿Apothecary @videoApothecary]

Few things I learned from two days of arguing with PlayStation digital bros:

They're unaware games existed before the internet

They trust corporations with their money

They can't understand loss of ownership trends

They don't understand the financial impact no discs brings

[TheJoshMan ✝️ @TheJoshMan07]

I can’t wait to see how the PS6 generation turns out because they’ve essentially put themselves in a situation where brand loyalty is the only thing that can save them. Only the people that are mindlessly attached to the PlayStation brand and uninformed parents will be buying it.

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

@Telepathic_hman @TBagGamingYT 15% LOL that number is so disingenuous, it’s just sony grasping at a reason to increase their profit margins even more.

[Canadian Guy Eh @Canadianguyehh]

Did more digging.

It gets worse.

I decided to compare, isolating the PS5 Platform as a comparison. How many more digital exclusive games are there? and does it correlate with the 85% number?

There are, at this point in time, about 1,120 PRINTED PS5 games (give or take). We are going to assume, that all 1,120 of those games also have a digital counterpart.

I went to the PSN store and simply clicked PS5 Platform and games. So this does not include DLC, MTX, etc. The total? 7,590 games.

But what about free to play?

Lets exclude those, this brings the total down to 7,451 games on the PSN store sorted specifically for the PS5. I want to note, this would be a COMPLETE PS5 library (thus far).

So, simple Math

7,451 - 1,120 = 6,331.

There are 6,331 MORE games on the PSN store than what's PHYSICALLY PRINTED For the PS5. That is 5.65x MORE games. These are all games that sell for 1 dollar, all the way up to your 100$+ digital special editions. If you Buy Final Fantasy Rebirth for 69.99 physically, go home, and buy "Quack McStuffins" for a dollar on PSN, those quantity of numbers are treated as equal.

and it gets even funnier.

Lets take that digital catalogue of 6,331 games and divide it by that complete library number (7,451) and turn it into a percentage.

6,331 divided by 7,451 = 84.96%

Meaning? almost 85% of the PS5's available library is DIGITAL ONLY. Ironic how 85% of Playstation's sales are digital eh?

So, what's happening here?

"All digital" defenders are using False Equivalency, and an Availability bias to gaslight users into thinking that no one plays physical anymore and to "get with the times" in the digital era.

Playstation themselves stated "This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs." But this logic is ONLY sound if you apply a False Equivalency.

ALL OF THIS- Before we even take into account of the insomniac leaks back in 2022, which showed that 31 out of the 33 first party games sold MORE in Physical than Digital. And in recent memory, Astrobot selling around 55% physical vs Digital.

So, why are they doing this?

Because MONEY!

Playstation makes WAY more money if you buy the game digitally vs Physically. So playstation is using the backing of convenience, Digital Incentives, indie/AA teams, Mini-Games, and yes, AI Slop, to validate jamming gamers who prefer Physical games with a hot poker into a 100% digital era.

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

@Animegod87 @NozirohlenitneS @Warlustgg Nobody chose digital. Sony falsifies that data cuz they include all digital games that don’t have a physical version. Also the issue isn’t that it’s not on the disc, it’s that it locks you in to sony’s store. No reselling, no lending, and no recovery if you lose your account.

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

@Tydye25 @Warlustgg Legit why does that matter if you’ve already unsubbed? You aren’t giving them money per second of gameplay, they don’t care if you’ve turned your ps5 on or not. They only care if you’re gonna give them money in the future. Play your single player games. Make no more purchases.

[Boe•VGC (Smeargle Enjoyer) @ItmeBoe]

I don’t think GKC’s are great but you just download with the internet once, the GKC doesn’t need it after that, and Nintendo keeps redownloading servers alive, you can still download purchased games on the Wii (these people don’t research they just repeat things twitter says)

[NovaCore Gaming @novacoregames_]

Console drama summed up 🙂

[Kaptain Kube @KaptainKuba]

The only one that loses with a digital-only future is you
#playstation

[SkullZ @SkullZSkeleton]

> They were not the first to do $80 dollar games, they existed back in the 90s.
> 50 dollars a year which gets you games from NES all the way to Gamecube, plus pretty decent online.
> What? 💀
> Genuinely just not true at all

Yes that Nintendo

[ShadowBat 🇱🇧 @mediafanatic25]

“You only have 5 games lil bro”

“You only have 16 games lil bro”

“You only have 30 games lil bro”

“You only have 50 games lil bro”

“You don’t even have collectors editions just standard editions”

SHUT THE FUCK UP SO WHAT? My physical collection size doesn’t matter, so what if I don’t have 100 discs that’s not the point at all, it’s the PRINCIPLE AND CONSUMER OPTION of being able to keep buying and owning tangible collections with your own two hands. Yes I know the DRM, Day one patches and shit make it a bit murkier, but I can still keep them or lend it or re sell it if I want to, I don’t like the idea of a big corpo taking control of my licenses tied to my account and taking them back without refunding just like that. You can gaslight me all you want but I DONT HAVE MORE DIGITAL THAN PHYSICAL GAMES

[TheNCSmaster @TheNCSmaster]

This is why I don’t understand the people going “who cares?” or actively cheer the death of physical games

No one has a problem if you buy digital only, but all this does is remove options for the public. It’s a wholly negative change for gamers, we don’t gain anything

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

Lol at all the grifters here that are bending over backwards for the corporate overlords but if you’re not @sony or @PlayStation i couldn’t care less what you think. I’m not trying to convince any of you, i’m just voting with my own money so go enjoy your slop elsewhere.

[Patrick / パトリック @PatrickM992]

Buh-bye @PlayStation. Have fun in your all digital future.

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

As you guys know, I love PlayStation and have played since PS1. I have over 300 platinums, own over 700 games across PS1-PS5 = mostly physical!

I try to call out Sony as much as I can during the years and I understand why ppl call me a Pony.

But this thing with physical games crossed a huge line for me, a line so big I feel like I need to voice my opinion about this. I will keep calling out them out as much as I can I really hope this thing doesn't just phase out.

We need to be strong on this, and I really LIKE REALLY don't get the people who defend this. Like at some point, you have to stop being a blind findboy and be a fan of something. "It doesn't affect" me mentality will only make the world burn man.

It's not about digital vs physical, it's about giving people a choice of getting real ownership of what they buy.

Stand up for what you believe in and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

[Animal Mother 🐺🗡️ @Engxxxge]

So many people making fun of this but they’re just projecting their lack of conviction onto those that have it.

Believe it or not, people can and will stick to their guns when it comes to what they believe in.

If that’s not you, maybe grow a spine.

[TJ Fixman @TJFixman]

You want people to pay $60-$80 and not own the thing they paid for? As someone who worked on almost a dozen games for you over the years, this is just gross. Cancel this and do right by your customers. Otherwise what you're really doing is marketing for Nintendo.