Ash Bates

the eepiest boi @CultVultures

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

It's not paranoia, it's just an Uso gliding around the arena. #WWE2K23

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

@game_collection My mate sent me this. I'll let you be the judge.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

@game_collection Was a bit worried about you guys considering the NewsTM. Hope you had a good bit of time off all things considered though!

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Think the social admin is trying to communicate with us.

[PlayStation @PlayStation]

Break stuff in I'm Having A Bad Day, coming to #PSVR2

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

@OgundimuFist @PlayOverwatch Orisa should be in net, her highlight intro shows clear goalkeeping experience. Losing faith in the gaffer with this line-up.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Here's my very original "it's hot today" tweet.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Whoever invented the auto braking on Asda trolleys, your mum entertains Japanese businessmen.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

@TheDemonBaz666

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

My pitch is that 23 Jump Street should still be Med School, and it picks up after them spending a decade becoming accomplished doctors only for the undercover bust to just solve itself somehow. 10 years for nothing, GG go next.

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Phil Lord explains why the next Jump Street movie is titled ‘24 JUMP STREET’.

“We developed a ’23 Jump Street’, and I think this is just out of respect for that. We're calling this 24, out of respect for the dead.”

(Source: https://t.co/nA2ldizTwp)

[IRL Loading Screens @IRLoadingScreen]

I don't want discs I just want to keep my games lol

[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.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Everyone just deciding to own goal all at once then, is it?

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

You heard him. Pope's declared a holy war on Sony over a digital-only PS6.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

If technology becomes the ultimate criterion, the human person risks being reduced to data, a cog in a machine or a commodity. If, however, technology is integrated with a wise perspective, it can become an instrument of growth, justice and fraternity. #MagnificaHumanitas

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

I play on Xbox mostly so my glass house is fucking fragile, but this announcement sucks. Genuinely feel bad for places like @game_collection, this has the potential to be devastating for them.

[PlayStation UK @PlayStationUK]

Important updates:

News on physical discs for new games - https://t.co/tWarDrmLa5

News on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita - https://t.co/O8EXktjqXq

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Frat boy Mr Blobby isn't real, he can't hurt you.

[✰ @popcomes]

post a random video you like

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

@MarTheMortal I must think about "Ihops in disguise-hops" about once a week.
https://t.co/zXxnnb5ECJ

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Hey @GameChangerSam, your nachos are being reheated.

[What's on Netflix @whatonnetflix]

Netflix is developing a reality series based on Simon Says.

Emer Harkin serves as showrunner with executive producers Julie Pizzi, Rupert Dobson, and Gayani Wanigaratne.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

Every 5 seconds? God, you must be dog shit at games.

[Rock Solid @ShitpostRock2]

“UUGH games always have such brutal death scenes for exclusively FEMALE characters”

Meanwhile Isaac Clarke every 5 seconds:

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

God, online racing in Forza Horizon is fucking wank. Either it's I get nudged off the road then ghosted if I go for revenge while they suffer no consequence, or I get a speed penalty for hitting a wall yet the people in front don't? Either allow all collisions or don't, fuck me.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

They'll be on the street in possibly large groups, which Dottie Deathbed Curtain-Twitcher down the road will misconstrue as gang culture, and then we're back to the ASBOs and low income demonisation of the 2000s. At least there'll be a financial crash not long afterwards.

[Ash Bates @donovan_ryder]

This under-16 social media ban, like, aside from the authoritarian digital ID crap that they're gonna push through like a determined man with constipation, taking kids off the internet is gonna send them outside with no clubs, spaces or programs to occupy them.