Moldy Pumpkin Lyn

Yes, I carved all those pumpkins you see. Credit to for 9 of them.
Sports fan. Gamer. Musician - Piano Player. Pumpkin carver.

[Moldy Pumpkin Lyn @lynroy_lynja]

I love video games and I love carving pumpkins. #happyHalloween Have some Star Wars Jedi: Survivor pumpkin carvings that I did of BD-1, Cere Junda, Greez, and Nightsister Merrin! #StarWars #StarWarsJediSurvivor #pumpkin

I carved Cal last year so he's not here.

[Domino's Pizza UK @Dominos_UK]

PlayStation thought the game was called physical and had to back out

[GamersNexus @GamersNexus]

Discs! And learning the lost art of doing small-time production runs making them! https://t.co/4qrrGLMS7L

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

One more time: EVERYONE will be negatively impacted if we let Sony erase physical media. Not just physical buyers. Digital will get more expensive and you will have no form of ownership anymore. Physical going away doesn't mean the rest gains something. Quite the opposite!

[Stop Killing Games Official @StopKilingGames]

This is why they want to get ride of discs. It’s the last barrier to us having no rights at all!

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

Ok, we give up now, right?

Seriously, though, don't let a bit of corpo speak during an earnings call keep you from fighting for your rights and for what you love! Sony was never going to just cave after a few weeks of backlash. But they do see us! This is only the beginning!

[Bring Back Banjo @BringBackBanjoK]

The PlayStation 6 must flop to the point where it makes the Wii U look successful by comparison

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

I'm not against digital at all, I just want the choice for physical games. I will keep advocating for this as long as possible

I truly feel like one of the key factors that makes a console a console is having physical games

Keep supporting physical if you like it!! 💽

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

During today's earnings call Sony for the first time in a month reacted to the backlash against their attack on physical media. And it went about the way we expected. Let's analyze it.
(Disclaimer: We are going off of the official English translation in the clip provided. It wasn't that long of a statement, but there might be minor inaccuracies in there.)

First of all, they seem to emphasize that 18 months ahead of time is a respectable period to give notice. No comment on the fact that basically everyone was surprised by their announcement coming this soon, while PS5 is still going strong.

Then they dive into the reasons. They claim there are "various", the biggest one being that "digitalization of contents overall has been progressing". This is a clear shift in language. Initially, they blamed it directly on consumer habits. We've shown how that reasoning doesn't fully hold up when looking at the numbers.

Then they claim that digitalization does not only impact PlayStation, but "all kinds of content". And that is true. It has been on the rise for quite some years now. At the same time, this conveniently ignores any and all counter trends in recent years. It is a statement that makes it sound like their direction is inevitable on a global scale. But their direction is absolute. Their goal is to kill physical media entirely for games, while basically all other major entertainment sectors have at least a strong niche remaining, with various indicators that physical media is actually growing again. The recent Capcom report saw a 133 % rise compared to the same period of last year. The overall spending is up for physical games compared to the previous year (admittedly, aided by the Switch 2 release). Sony's own physical split last quarter is up, both compared to the quarter before and the same period last year. More and more signs point to a stable plateau of physical buyers at the very least.

The call continues and they drop the big one. A few seconds of stuttering followed by, "We put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we are cautiously going to move this forward."

They are not really giving any insights here. It is a "trust me, bro" in business speak. At the same time, if we take these words at face value, it means they are aware of the consequences, but do it anyway.

Endangering retailers across the globe by removing one of the biggest entertainment brands from the portfolio? Fuck them.
Removing a choice for consumers who were loyal to the PlayStation brand? Fuck them.
Stripping developers of an additional revenue stream and the chance to immortalize their art? Fuck them.
Forcing all remaining customers into an ecosystem without customer protection legislation? Fuck them too.

What thoughts did they put in exactly?

The only word that might give hope is "cautiously". But even that could be read in two ways. Either they are more cautious not to spark more backlash, but they want to continue regardless. Or they are actually waking up to the fact that this might cause more harm to them than they initially anticipated.

They follow up with "to this decision we have received various opinions and people have strong views" and how games are loved and connected to memories. The speaker claims that they "understand those emotions". Really?
Why are they calling it emotions when there is a long list of legitimate criticism entirely rooted in facts, though? Because they don't want to acknowledge the facts. Sony tries to paint the backlash as emotional without substance. As completely unfounded in anything tangible.

After this bit, they immediately continue to starting damage control for the future and start talking about the "future digital ecosystem". Again, in a manner that makes it sound without an alternative. "How do we engage the gamers, is something we would like to continue to explore", they say. What is that supposed to mean, you ask? It's entirely talking about how they can continue to boil the frog. This part of the statement was not revolving around giving customers anything. Our best guess is that it is the attempt to indirectly address the monopoly criticism, and that there is no customer protection in an all-digital future, and that customers will be entirely at the mercy of the platform with zero control over purchased goods.

With this statement the clip concludes. The overall tone remained. Cold, distant, no real explanations, no apologies for the past weeks either.

But they did get a message. It had some impact. They ran damage control here. 100 % confidence would look different. But they won't correct course for now.

It is up to us to continue. If anything, we need to step it up now. #PSBlackout is just one of those steps. Many more need to be taken. This needs a collective effort from all gamers, regardless of how you like to play your games.

https://t.co/4mZbdZKhrk

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

People defending all-digital claim games would never be taken from people's libraries. Maybe we'll work on a longer list, but for now:
1) https://t.co/kJPPdWW7eL
2) https://t.co/dJlv15uCrq
3) https://t.co/h67vi4LZXv

#PhysicalGamesMatter

[Rino🚀 @RinoTheBouncer]

The Video Game industry gradually engineered the narrative that physical games aren’t wanted, so they can take control of what you purchase and skim as much money from you as possible🚀

✅They made some physical games lacking content and require internet/download

✅They made some games release digital first and then physical later

✅They turned PC into fully digitally, and started using its numbers as an argument against physical games when there’s no other option

✅They made sure to calculate free-to-play, digital-only console games, and even DLC, MTX and key card redemption as “digital sales” to inflate statistics

✅They’re now trying to use that as a “gotcha” for ending physical game market

But we’ve seen that narrative is engineered in bad faith:

✅$4 billion to $6 billion physical game revenue and in 2025 globally

✅The music industry continues to sell vinyl records, CDs and even cassette tapes and uses them in variants to boost artist sales and chart positions

✅Film continues to be released on Blu-Ray

✅Books continue to be released in print

And that is despite the existence of the far more popular streaming/digital for film, shows, music and books

✅GOG have shown us that digital games DRM free that can be copied to discs, which Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo do not want you to have because they want you at the mercy of their licensing, accounts and service

NO DISC 💿 NO BUY

[GOG.COM @GOGcom]

Digital or physical, ownership is autonomy. If you don't have it, you don't have ownership.

[Stop Killing Games Official @StopKilingGames]

Physical: disc, case, shipping, retailer cut — $70.

Digital: none of that — also $70.

So who’s pocketing the difference?
Its time to investigate these people!
#PSBlackout #NoDiscNoBuy

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

Last week, Playstation PSN was down. Today, XBOX has been down for over 15 hours

Clearly, they don't have the infrastructure to be digital only for consoles. Physical games NEED to be an option for people no matter (with offline play)

[GameVerse @TheGameVerse]

Both PlayStation & XBOX had server outage this week.

“Digital-only future” 💀

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

We have to be real here, Playstation is not ready for an all digital future

PSN is down and my disc drive can install games just fine 💽. They don't have the infrastructure to even support a only digital future

Honestly investors need to questions these things 📉 $SONY

[Rino🚀 @RinoTheBouncer]

PlayStation Network is down for millions of users worldwide🚀

This is the digital-only future, people😅
NO DISC 💿 NO BUY

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

We had ourselves a lovely PSN outage, we see. Just one of many things that can go wrong with an all-digital future in the way Sony's shapes up to be. Be careful what you wish for.

[Does it play? @DoesItPlay1]

We've seen Alanah Pearce' comment about Sony putting out a gagging order on its employees. And it is very telling for what is going on!

First, we can say that it checks out with what we have heard from behind the scenes. Initially there were a lot of discussions about Sony's attack on physical media. Then, several days after the announcement the chats just went quiet over night. Nobody even reacted to the topic or things remotely connected to it anymore. Like they were all struck by a giant censorship hammer.

In our opinion, this clearly shows several things.

One, Sony desperately wants to control the narrative. They anticipated the backlash. They fear the backlash.

Subsequently, two, this proves that they don't have a leg to stand on. Their justification for the move to kill physical media and push everyone into an all-digital dystopia is not based on reality. The reason they gave is bogus. We already talked about this before when we looked at the numbers and explained that the bigger picture is much more than "consumer trends".

But the most important thing is, three, that they know killing physical media will literally hurt everyone in and around the games industry in some way. EVERBODY has a good reason to be angry and concerned. Retailers have already spoken up. Developers have already spoken up (not only because the backlash harms their marketing, but because it harms motivation, discoverability and an additional stream of revenue), preservationists have spoken up, media has spoken up, gamers have spoken up.

The only thing that carries Sony is a large part of the audience that hasn't gotten the message yet. But more and more do. Once a critical mass of casual gamers understand that Sony will exploit them even more for profit in the future, that this decision will come with severe downsides even for those who didn't care before, it can turn the tide.

This message control wouldn't be necessary, if their decision would be for the better. In that case, they could easily justify it in public. But they do the opposite. That's all you need to know to continue the backlash and make as many people as you can aware of the consequences.

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

More news about the Disc situation with Playstation:

- Sony knew they would piss off fans and decided to step over them to show who decides the rules
- They sent out the most strict rules they possibly can to employees
- Employees are not allowed to adress fans no matter how they feel. There are serious consequences
- Sony won't back down no matter how many fans they lose

[Rino🚀 @RinoTheBouncer]

Sony’s sock puppet media continues to push Sony’s narrative to make it look like physical games have no demand, but it’s all manipulation🚀

✅Sony shipped nearly 70 million physical PlayStation discs worldwide in FY2025

✅In the UK, physical market exceeded £300 million in 2025, with 25% of young gamers (under 25) still using discs

✅In Spain, physical sales hit €294 million. While digital revenue seems higher (61.9%), it is heavily inflated by the inclusion of DLCs, subscriptions, and mobile apps.

✅Around 121 countries lack reliable internet or a dedicated PlayStation Store, making physical discs a strict necessity rather than just a preference.

✅Phasing out physical games is a profit-driven move that threatens game ownership.

✅Allowing companies to eliminate physical media gives them unchecked monopoly power over pricing and availability, a shift that will eventually hurt digital consumers, too.

NO DISC 💿 NO BUY