I used to buy the games I knew I'd want to play forever on disc for my PS4. Then the disc drive died, and while looking into repairing it I discovered they lock the drive to the mainboard by serial number and only "authorized repair centers" can flash the proper keys.

That's when I gave up completely on consoles, bought most of those games at heavy discount on Steam, and walked from anything Sony bothers to fart out into the market.

Considering that Sony are practically a monopoly in the disc market, this could be interpreted as exiting blu-ray entirely. If they're not behind it, nobody is.

Even as someone who's only bought digital on PC/PS4/PS5, this is terrible for everyone in the gaming community from more than a game preservation perspective. This is Sony feeling like they have a locked in user base they can exploit with >$1000 console prices, >$100 game prices and no second hand market whatsoever. This move basically confirms console gaming is a luxury and not something for the masses.

On the PC side, we're already seeing fewer historical lows in every sale and this move will place even more inflationary pressure on gaming prices as a whole.

So their prices drop like Steam games too, right? Riiiight?

No more PlayStation for me then.

I wonder how much longer we’ll be able to buy 4K Blu-rays then…

If I'm downloading digital games I'm downloading them from indie studios onto my computer, and not through a console.

Oh no, I've just realised that this might mean the end of bluray too because most people use PlayStation's for watching blu rays. I know I bought a PS5 earlier than I needed to specifically for 4k blurays

natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends

yet all of the comments below their post prefer physical

Outrageous. I buy most games near day 1, and sell them later. This will be the end of console gaming for me.

As Xbox shit the bed this generation, and Nintendo is doing their own thing, Sony has no real competition in the console market, so they can do what they want. This is the result.

We are finally at the end. It’ll start with entertainment, such as sports (already there) and soon video games. They’ve done it with software controls in vehicles. Retailers are started working with Creditors so you can do it for Computers and TVs, but the beginning of the end is upon us.

We are now entering the beginning steps of a new era, where You will own nothing, rent or lease, or subscribe to everything, and you will enjoy it because you have no choice.

Yeah, this is probably the last gen for me. No reason to think Microslop wont do the same thing.

I have huge backlog of old games to play on my laptop anyway. This will keep me busy until the AI bubble pops and PCs get cheaper.

We need physical media. We can rely \ expect companies to keep servers up forever. I am beyond livid ….