PlayStation Gamers Unhappy With Sony Discontinuing Physical Discs Push for Blackout Day in August
It’s been four weeks since Sony announced that starting January 2028, they will stop producing physical discs of new games.
Since then, gamers from all over the world have been relentless in letting Sony know that they are making the wrong decision, even if it seems Sony itself is ignoring the backlash, as it’s been said that this digital transition has been decided for some time, with even the company’s disc manufacturing plant said to be switching production to another component.
On social platform X (formerly Twitter), every tweet from the official PlayStation account is getting community noted due to Sony’s disc-less decision, but things are being taken up a notch.
#PSBlackout Movement Pushed for August
Over on X, the “Does it play?” account, which mentions in their bio: “Working to ensure games and hardware remain accessible now and always. Testing commercial releases offline,” has called for a boycott of PlayStation in August for a week to give Sony a “small taste of their own medicine.”
Pushing for the hashtag #PSBlackout to gain mor steam, the account’s full message is as follows:
For several years now, Sony Interactive Entertainment has continued to grow further apart from its fan base. Whether it’s closing beloved studios like Bluepoint, pursuing a misguided live-service strategy, canceling fan events, leaving PS VR2 to die, or being completely out of touch with the franchises players want to see return, PlayStation has never felt more disconnected from its community.
Ending physical discs in 2028 feels like the last straw. We understand there is only so much SIE can control, but with the decisions that are within its control, the company continues to mismanage the strong position it inherited from the PS4 era.
There are so many issues with PlayStation right now that bringing back physical games would only be meeting players halfway. There is still much more SIE can do. We miss Twisted Metal, SOCOM, Sly Cooper, and Resistance. We miss PlayStation Experience. We miss Japan Studio.
With that, we are calling on PlayStation players to participate in an economic and gameplay blackout from Sunday, August 23, at 7:00 PM local time through Sunday, August 30, at 7:00 PM local time. Players can participate by turning off their consoles or logging out for seven days. We feel that this period gives publishers and developers minimal impact while still giving players a voice.
#PSBlackout
The account is pushing for gamers, content creators, and everyone gaming on a PlayStation platform to boycott Sony for a week starting August 23 to August 30; this means no logins, no play sessions, no purchases on any of Sony’s platforms.
To date, the post has over 10,000 likes and over 3,700 shares. Will people actually take part in the boycott? We can’t say for sure, but if you’re one of the many who do not agree with Sony’s decision, this might be the best avenue to let them hear your voice.
That said, I do think that it won’t matter since it looks like Sony anticipated this and has chosen to just ignore all pleas and complaints. We even ran a feature on how we think Sony is counting on gamers being too invested in the PlayStation brand and ecosystem to leave for another platform.
Sony ending physical disc releases for new games could potentially wipe out the $7 billion used games market, claims an analyst.
It’s not just gamers, either, as even game developers and former Sony executives have spoken out against a disc-less future.
Will you take part in the #PSBlackout? We’ll monitor the situation and report on any pertient developments.
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