PlayStation boycott over Sony's disc-free future fails to move the needle

Sony's all-digital future is moving forward at full speed

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Facepalm: Disgruntled gamers recently tried to send Sony a message, asking the Japanese corporation to stop killing the physical game market. According to some analysts, that effort failed spectacularly. Is the "disc" dead for good, at least on PlayStation platforms?

Sony keeps saying that digital games are the future of the industry and that players will no longer own anything tangible on their shelves. However, some customers are trying to force Sony to reconsider its unprecedented decision regarding physical game releases. So far, the loud minority's efforts have not achieved any practical results.

According to Mat Piscatella, senior director and video game industry aadvisor at data analytics company Circana, there was no significant change in player count or "engagement" following the organized boycott against PlayStation.

A few weeks ago, some users announced that they would not use any "digital" feature of Sony's platform – including gaming – until the company decided to reverse its 2028 plans.

Asked about the outcome of the "no disc, no buy" boycott, Piscatella said on Bluesky that Circana's tracking uncovered no evidence of any actual impact. However, some users suggest that Circana's conclusion about the boycott's outcome might be an overstatement. After all, analysts were not attempting to measure the specific impact of the planned digital blackout, instead focusing on "routine" activity among US players without any actual sales data in the mix.

The alleged failure of the players' boycott could be explained in several different ways. The boycott "movement" had no specific organization or significant reach on social networks, as many console gamers might be unaware of the latest developments in the video game industry.

Asking people to stay away from their consoles during the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta phase didn't help, either. The simplest explanation might be that many players are simply happy with things as they are. Sony's official figures appear to confirm that a majority of customers now purchase their games in digital format.

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Either way, Sony's decision to leave the physical game market is likely to fuel an industry-wide debate for years to come. The company is trying to prove in court that gamers are fully aware that they don't own digital games, despite often stating the opposite. Meanwhile, Xbox is currently working on a plan to turn disc-based purchases into digital titles, while Nintendo is still selling "some" Switch games on physical cartridges.

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