Earlier this month, Sony announced that they would halt the production of physical games by January 2028. This information definitely points towards the next PlayStation console (whatever that may be) being fully digital.

“As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028.”

-Sid Shuman (he/him), Senior Director (Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications) via PlayStation Blog

I read this as a sad announcement for multiple reasons.

Sure, most of my current game collection is made up of digital games, and I love the ease of switching between games without having to get my ass off the couch to swap discs. When it comes to this site, digital review codes have been a blessing. It’s the best way to get into a game on release day, sometimes even prior to release. Thank you to the many video game PR people who make that possible.

I love my physical media. If I’m going to fork out $70+ on a brand new game at release, I’d much rather receive a physical version — and some extra goodies. I am already planning on visiting Best Buy to pick up Marvel’s Wolverine from Insomniac Games on Day One.

Film Collector

I also own a massive collection of Blu-Ray movies from over the years — I could probably get rid of some of those. I stuck to physical because it was basically the same price as digital, but I’d end up with both, a physical copy and a digital code. Also, I’m a fan of watching all the behind the scenes special features and bits.

My movie collecting has slowed down in recent years, thanks to the streaming wars. Still, there are some movies that I feel I gotta have! There have been plenty of times where I think of a movie I want to watch and it’s nowhere to be found on any of my streaming platforms.

The main problem is physical media does take up physical space in your home (or in some abandoned storage unit), but digital media takes up digital space on your hard drive (or in the cloud) — which will also be a problem at some point.

Back to Physical Games

Video games are different from movies though. We all have a ton of backlog games that we are waiting for the right moment to play — both physical and digital. There’s also always insane sales on digital games — especially on the Steam store. The Epic Games Store is giving away one-to-two games per week on their storefront. I own almost 600 games on the Epic Games Store, and I’m pretty sure I purchased less than five of them. PlayStation is giving me PS Plus games every month, and if you have Xbox Game Pass there are plenty of games included there too.

So, why do I even need physical games in my life?

1 | The Old Video Game Circle Jerk

A big part of buying the latest physical games for me growing up was being able to trade or barter with friends. A few of us had a system back in the day, where we’d each buy the game we were most anticipating (if a couple of games were coming out around the same time), then we’d lend our game to each other once we were done with it. It’s nice to have a collection of Nintendo Switch games I can loan to my nephews when they are old enough to play them.

I still have most of my library of NES, SNES, and Game Boy cartridges, and I’m always looking for retro games to add to my collection at conventions. I own a bunch of my original PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS4, and Wii U games — some of those consoles are still hooked up and ready to play. I purchased an Analogue SuperNT to enjoy my SNES games on my current smart TV. I ask friends what retro games they still own.

We are still obsessed with new retro-inspired releases. Just look at these recent well-regarded releases like Mina the Hollower, Celeste, and Sea of Stars. There are so many games released each year using old school game design techniques and implementing today’s tech.

There’s also the whole “What If” scenario, where games are always getting delisted. Owning a physical copy means you own that game forever, unless it only works as long as some servers are hooked up. Digital copies can be taken away, and you won’t get your money back or any sort of compensation.

2 | Ye Olde Collector’s Edition

I don’t buy every special edition game that comes out, but I get excited to see the different versions of games with special items. Some of my recent Special Edition game purchases include The Last of Us: Part II with the Ellie statue, pins, mini art book, and stickers, also God of War: Ragnarok that brought Mjölnir, a wooden dice set, and some other goodies — I’ve used Mjölnir multiple times in our D&D-themed improv show, SideQuest! I also purchased The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom special edition for some pins, metallic art, artbook, and whatever else came in that giant box. I believe these three were “pandemic purchases.”

Gone are the days of standard physical editions bringing any goodies. The last two standard editions I can think of that brought something extra were GTA V (Xbox 360) which brought a poster/map, and Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4) which brought a map and some postcards — which is why I did not return my physical edition when that was an option. I decided to wait to play Cyberpunk 2077 until they fixed it, and now they have fixed it and I’m still waiting to have the time.

As a kid I remember the feeling of bringing home a new game. I’d open the box and there would be some sort of booklet, manual, or reading material. It gave you a reason to open your new game in the backseat of the car on the way home from Toys R’ Us — or wherever you got your games. Today’s games and pre-orders are all about digital rewards, like weapon skins, outfits, backgrounds, and avatars.

*SideQuest:
A funny thing happened the other day after the Sony going digital in 2028 announcement. Santa Monica Studios announced that they would be releasing a physical edition of their next game, God of War: Laufey (February 2027) — which I am super stoked about. The funny part is that even though I purchased the collector’s edition of their last game, God of War: Ragnarok, it brought a steelbook case, but no physical game — just a download code. I’m happy that they are going physical for the next one, just to show Sony that it is important.

3 | Target Clearance Hack

The third reason I will miss physical games is my Target clearance surprise hack. A few times, while shopping at Target for non-gaming related items, I have checked the back of the gaming section for clearance items — just because I was curious. I’ve been lucky to find some pretty new games at incredibly low prices.

A few years ago, right after winning tons of awards I found Metaphor: ReFantazio for $20.99 in the Target clearance section. I knew nothing about this game other than it was critically acclaimed, so I bought it on the spot. I will play it this year — I hope.

Last week I was at Target and found a few great deals, but only picked up one. Resident Evil: Requiem (Nintendo Switch 2) was on sale for $34.99, it’s still full price on the digital storefronts. Some other recent Nintendo Switch 2 releases were on sale for $20-30. What I chose to take home was Dragon Quest VII Reimagined for $17.99.

I might need to go back to Target to check on those other games soon. I will definitely be on the lookout for game deals for the rest of 2026 and 2027. I also picked up a Ganondorf Amiibo for less than $6 a while back, this was before Amiibos went up to $30+.

This is all thanks to the new small-to-medium sized Targets popping up all over. We have gained a few smaller Targets here in South Florida in recent years, and the problem with these smaller stores is that they don’t have the shelf space for all of their inventory. I’ve found plenty of good deals in the clearance section at larger Targets thanks to overstocked items, I just never noticed it with newly released games until now.

If you have a small-to-medium sized Target in your neighborhood, you should definitely go visit and check the clearance section for new games. Now, with the end of physical media, this hack won’t last much longer. We have about a year and a half to load up on cheap physical games, before PlayStation goes through with this — will they change their mind? Will the other companies follow suit?

What’s your thoughts on the end of physical games? Do you buy physical or digital?