Peter Davis

The Official Twitter Account of Peter Davis

[KAMI @Okami13_]

Hideo Kojima comments on the end of physical game production today in Italy:

"Today you can still download data. But at one point games will make into streaming services like Amazon or Netflix and companies will decide if you can play a game or not [...] At this point I won't have anything of my own [...] the data will be somewhere in a company and I will have the right to access it or not depending on how much this data tap is opened.

The fact that the initial data is not in my possession but is somewhere held by a private company means that I will always have that risk that for any reason, whether commercial or political, the company could prevent access to that data and therefore I will no longer be able to see that film, I will no longer be able to play that game.

This is what's happening next for the world of video games and I fear it will also happen for cinema."

[David Freeman @F_DaVid_A]

Me consta de buena mano (de varios publishers y Devs) que SONY no se esperaba un backlash tan Hardcore.

Les ha caído la del pulpo con lo de matar el físico.

Y sé de sobra que Sony no quiere recular y los boicotts sirven poco, pero sí diría: NO PARÉIS. DIA Y NOCHE.

[Noah615 @NoahJ615]

After sitting with the Playstation news for a bit, I came to realize something…

Isn’t what Sony is doing kinda illegal?

They’re essentially creating a monopoly by gutting any market except the ps store.

No competition. No competitive prices. Nothing.

Seems illegal to me.

[2 Old 4 Gaming @2_Old_4_Gaming]

Forever physical! Forever PSVita!

[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.

[Playasia @playasia]

We get that digital is the future for a lot of people.

But for many gamers and collectors, physical games are still part of the experience. The shelf, the box art, the memories, the secondhand finds, the imports, and the feeling that the game is yours.

Playasia has always stood for game preservation and full ownership by the consumer.

[NikTek @NikTek]

The importance of physical dics explained by Sony themselves, 13 years ago.

[Pyo 5️⃣ @mrpyo1]

PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND:

We have to talk about the physical vs digital data, A LOT of people still buy Physical games on PS5.
More than you think, like WAY MORE! Please read and understand what Sony is doing it trying to FORCE DIGITAL games! IMO this should not even be legal:

- FY2025 Full Year (Apr 2025 – Mar 2026) = the digital to physical split was 78%/22%.
But this does NOT tell the whole story. Because this is all games sold, not all games that have physical copies and digital! So majority of the 78/22 split don't even have physical, let's look at some real numbers from leaks and stats we have:

From Insomniac Leak:

- God of War Ragnarök: 76% Physical / 24% Digital
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga: 63% Physical / 37% Digital
- Astro Bot: 55% Physical / 45% Digital
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: 54% Physical / 46% Digital
- Assassin's Creed Mirage: 49% Physical / 51% Digital
- Resident Evil 4 Remake: 45% Physical / 55% Digital
- Hogwarts Legacy: 44% Physical / 56% Digital
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: 40% Physical / 60% Digital

UK / Europe Retail Data (GSD – 2023/2024):

- Astro Bot: 55% Physical (UK) / and 60% Physical (Europe) – 2024
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: 54% Physical (UK) – 2023
- Assassin's Creed Mirage: 49% Physical (UK) – 2023
- Hogwarts Legacy: 45% Physical (UK) – 2023
- Resident Evil 4 Remake: 45% Physical (UK) – 2023
- Horizon Forbidden West: 51% Physical (UK) – 2022

People still buy a lot of physical games on PS5, especially when it's SINGLE PLAYER GAMES. When it's more mp then it goes down to more digital. But please don't just listen to the 78%/22% split, those numbers are overall numbers and don't represent the full story AS YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE!

Because it's not a fair comparison since all games don't have a physical copy or eventually stop printing it. They are trying to paint a narrative to control prices and take ownership from you, that is the truth and spread it!

[David Doel @daviddoel]

Still can't get over the fact that Sony announced an end to physical media in the same post they announced the closure of their digital store for older platforms.

Literally justifying the worries people have about a digital-only future within the same post.

[Rin | 凛 @TheIshikawaRin]

Just a reminder that I am only able to own and to personally preserve the quite rare Godzilla PS4 game because of physical media.

It was delisted from the PlayStation Store less than two years after it released and hasn’t been ported to modern platforms.

[🌵 RC | The Nostalgia Pro🕹️📺 @NostalgiaPro]

Sony killing physical media is bigger than people realize.

Everyone's talking about what it does to the consumer. Look at what it does to small business.

No used games means no trade-ins, no reselling, no buying a copy for cheap a year later. That used wall is the margin that keeps your local game store's lights on, and it's gone.

In 2013 Sony mocked Xbox for trying to block used games. Now they're doing the exact thing they roasted.

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

[Obsolete Sony @ObsoleteSony]

Hugging mine extra tight tonight ❤️

[Kotaku @Kotaku]

PlayStation Is Shutting Down The PS3 And Vita Stores Next Year https://t.co/yFSJNQ8KLI

[PlayStation Nostalgia @PlayStalgiaX]

Physical media forever

[VGP Video Games Plus @VideoGamesPlus_]

Don't Kill the Disc: Tell Sony to Keep Physical PlayStation Games - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/tBAaBWt4QA via @CdnChange

[The Verge @verge]

Sony is killing discs — and showing us why it’s a terrible idea https://t.co/wgqfRRDGuA

[Complex Pop Culture @ComplexPop]

End of an era 💿💔

[Chris Ray Gun @ChrisRGun]

Physical games should always exist, if not for preservation, then at least for enthusiasts. I can still buy vinyls from my favorite modern bands well after vinyl became a “dead format.”

There’s no good reason to not have that boutique support for games.

[Delisted Games @DelistedGames]

PlayStation 3 and Vita stores closing in run-up to July 2027, no more games on disc beginning January 2028 https://t.co/gmf3YnMOkM