The announcement of the end of PlayStation physical disc production has received more social media engagement than the first trailer for GTA VI.
The official Twitter/X post announcing the end of PlayStation physical disc production has received over 145 million views as of writing, surpassing the GTA VI trailer 1 engagement by nearly 20 million views and the monthly active users (around 128 million) on PlayStation Network by more than 17 million views.
The record-breaking engagement comes from severe backlash from the gaming community. On July 1, 2026, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it will end physical disc production for all new PlayStation game releases beginning in January, 2028. From that point onward, newly released games for PlayStation consoles will only be available in digital formats through the PlayStation Store and participating retailers.
According to the company, digital game purchases now significantly outpace physical disc sales, making the transition a natural step as it adapts to how the majority of players choose to buy and access games. Although physical discs for new releases will no longer be produced after January 2028, Sony clarified that new releases will continue to be available both through the PlayStation Store and at retailers offering digital versions. The company added that shifting away from physical media will allow it to focus more of its resources on improving how players access games and continue investing in new digital experiences.
Legendary game creator Hideo Kojima recently expressed his disappointment over PlayStation’s decision to phase out software, saying that the prospect is especially disheartening for those who grew up collecting physical games. He has been buying CDs, Blu-rays, and other physical media while they are still available in order to preserve his personal collection. Kojima explained that the current model, where players download games to a console’s storage, still allows users to keep a local copy of their purchases even without a physical disc. However, he believes the next step will be an entirely streaming-based ecosystem, where games reside exclusively on company servers and users are granted only temporary access.
