Earlier this year, Sony disclosed its plans to put an end to physical discs for PlayStation games in 2028. The move naturally drew backlash from players against digital-only releases. Now, PlayStation founder Ken Kutaragi has offered his two cents on the matter, and while he acknowledged the players’ frustrations, he doesn’t believe in keeping physical discs around either.
Speaking to VGC at the Game Republic New Horizons event, Kutaragi claimed that discs have become a “metaphor for owning games”. He went on to argue that this is a mentality issue, pointing out how people typically do not think physical media is necessary for networked devices like smartphones, as they feel that they will keep their content regardless. It is an odd comparison to make, since consoles and smartphones are different devices altogether, with the former being a more specialised piece of hardware. Furthermore, boiling discs down to a symbol for ownership ignores a lot of reasons some gamers may prefer physical media.
