PlayStation's New Policy Is Already Hurting PS6 Sales Before Launch

The current console generation marked the first time in gaming history that the major console makers offered entirely digital versions of their hardware right from the start: Xbox had the Series S, and PlayStation had the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. While both brands also had versions that played discs — more costly versions, that is — the looming sense that the days of consoles supporting physical media being in its home stretch was ever present.

To that end, there has long been speculation as to whether the next generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles would support physical media at all, with traditional disc users struggling to remain optimistic. Well, it has now been made official that the PlayStation brand is going 100% all digital starting in January 2028 — all but confirming that the PlayStation 6 will be an entirely digital machine. It didn't take long after the announcement for many gamers to declare they'd be skipping the PS6 as a result. 

Almost immediately after the news broke of the end of PlayStation disc production, so too did the spirits of those on the r/PlayStation subreddit. A chorus of displeasure quickly flooded the thread, with many claiming that they won't bother buying a PS6 if it's going to be 100% digital. Many even claimed the PS6 will be the first PlayStation console they won't buy, going all the way back to the PS1.

Some also pointed to the recent news that PlayStation will soon delete over 500 movies from the PlayStation storefront — including from the libraries of customers who already purchased them — as an example of how the company treats digital ownership and why that is incredibly concerning for this impending switch.

Others said that the main reason they had stuck with consoles over PC up until now is because consoles still offered physical media as an option, and without that, there's no reason not to just switch entirely to PC gaming. Xbox already saw a massive hemorrhaging of its formerly devout fanbase after it failed to prove why people should still buy their consoles over playing PC games, and the same might soon happen to PlayStation.