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Will sony take a U-turn on no physical

sony takes a U-turn again?

  • yes

    Votes: 46 13.5%

  • not this time

    Votes: 294 86.5%
  • Total voters
    340
roosnam1980 said:
They did take one U-turn recently with the pc ports , any chance they will do it again with the recent decision to end production .
imo yes
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And who will foot the bill?
Sales of physical software dropping, it becomes harder/costly to operate at scale
And Sony can't just outsource discs to some noname boutique to create "collector's edition" as it will compromise discs security and potentially lead to piracy of games

PeteBull said:
They falsely think they bring enough value and have not enough competition to do this, they will die on all digital future hill 4sure, gaas intitiative and funding all their DEI shit needs money from somewhere, thats the only way they can monetize their customers with no limit.
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5% those belong to physical game sales certainly not the factor that paying for Sony experiments
Sony biggest profit venues are digital only online games, subscriptions and accessories
And even on standalone b2p games we see that digital ratio reaching up to 90%
 
U-turns happen when things go south.
Thing is if they drop the infrastructure it's going to be a long time before they can put it back in place.
So the time for customers to make the biggest possible stink about this is literally right now.

-Cancel all your pre-orders
-Write or call Sony directly
-Remind them on social media too
 
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Yes I think they will, the damage and noise is too much and they need to maximise cash in atm, so they will likely walk it back or half back.
I can imagine they will say they will release physical editions for specific games on a case by case basis.
Half in, half out and probably what thye should have done in the first place.
 
No. This isn't like when they 180'ed closing the PS3/Vita store back in 2021( which they've since 180'ed that 180 this week). Pulling back on PC ports is core to the strategy of re-emphasizing their console, and centralizing all commerce to their PSN store. They don't want physical games that can be sold off or traded as some kind of checks and balances to digital media, they don't want PSN codes sold by third parties. They want to funnel every single cent in your wallet directly to PSN and remove all alternative channels of accessing their content that isn't under their supreme control. I also imagine that not being able to force PC customers into signing into PSN with their PC ports factors in this. They're willing to lose the 10-15% of people who refuse to buy the PS6 as an all-digital device, by cutting out all middlemen for the other 80%+ who will.

I guess their mindset is, in the high end console space where else you gonna go......... XBOX?
 
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The only way Sony would make a u-turn is if MS would launch Helix with a disk support (even as an addon) and consumers would in fact flock to this option instead of buying a PS6.
 
This is the way the whole industry is going as decided by all the people buying the majority of their games as digital. Nintendo might be the last hold out for awhile, but they'll get there. Digital rights is the new fight.
 
Imho Sony is playing with fire, they won't do a reversal, but could be subject to allowing alternative stores within their ecosystem - by court of course.
 
Dr.Morris79 said:
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No, I really want for everyone to be digital-only, just like me.
 
DavidGzz said:
Key difference is multiple storefronts and key sellers that buy them in bulk and sell for cheap. Nothing like that with Sony owning the only store. We'll see how it plays out but I think it's gonna suck.
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Right. PC, as a whole, went the exact opposite route that Sony is taking here.
 
Nah too many people all digital now plus there are other perks. For one they will complete control over what sales numbers are released and how they are released.

Say good buy to monthly sales threads.
 
Not only do I think they won't take a U-turn about physical media, but I think in about a year or so they'll U-turn again on the PC ports when they aren't making their budgets back on single player games.
Tell Third Eye GIF by Denyse®
 
They would have obviously spoken to all the main publishers about this so - even if they brought back physical disks - I'm sure these publishers have been telling Sony that they're going the way of GTA6 regardless.

Basically, even if Sony wanted to, there's probably little point if all the publishers don't play ball.
 
The only way the will take a u-turn is if they see a huge surge in physical games. If not they ain't bringing it back and really they shouldn't if physicals aren't selling like that.
 
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Its possible but i doubt it. Maybe if the digital/physical split was a lot closer.

besides its just delaying the inevitable as next gen will 100% be the last gen with physical media, even if they do u-turn.
 
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They don't give a damn about what anyone thinks, they're going to do what they want to do, and everyone will have to deal. They want more money, and they're going to do what they need to get it.
 
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GamesDontSuck said:
Nah.
In my opinion, by announcing no disk based releases come 2028, they are shifting towards a diskless console & future going forward (PS6).

I do wonder tho that if the next xbox offered a disk drive, or at least an optional add-on, would that help their sales more against the ps6? then again how many disks would games be on... 2? 3? more? Which doesnt seem feasible.
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Nope. The sales disparity on Xbox between digital software and physical software is roughly the same on PlayStation which is now 80 to 90%.
 
They will announce that they are releasing a disc drive for PS6 and you can play your old discs on that.

They will revert the no physical.

This will happen within a week or two. Normies caught on and insta picked it up. Sony can't stand against this scale.

Sony, end your wicked ways, fire Hermen, start Destiny 3, cancel the all digital future and add a disc drive to PS6. Otherwise you will end up like Xbox. You are the most profitable ever. Do like Nintendo. Spend money now to right your ship. They just raised salaries for their employees but you take away physical agnostic licenses and cancel Destiny 3. Be careful for your reasoning. If you are petty towards us we will find out and your console sales will falter.
demanding do it GIF
 
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MiguelItUp said:
They don't give a damn about what anyone thinks, they're going to do what they want to do, and everyone will have to deal. They want more money, and they're going to do what they need to get it.
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Ah yes. Consumer's pissing money away for no good reason is a tragedy, but when a company does it, its an assault.

I know that looks like an apologia for all sorts of corporate douchebaggery, but lets not pretend every decision made comes out of malice or a pure lack of concern.

The reality is the market has moved largely to digital, and Sony are announcing a change 18 months in the future when every trend indicates that physical's share will be even smaller. Bear in mind that from their perspective any hardware decision needs to be reflective of where the market is going to be 10 years down the line.

Do you honestly believe if you buy a console in 2028 with an optical drive, it'll still be being supported in 2038 ?
 
Clear said:
Ah yes. Consumer's pissing money away for no good reason is a tragedy, but when a company does it, its an assault.

I know that looks like an apologia for all sorts of corporate douchebaggery, but lets not pretend every decision made comes out of malice or a pure lack of concern.

The reality is the market has moved largely to digital, and Sony are announcing a change 18 months in the future when every trend indicates that physical's share will be even smaller. Bear in mind that from their perspective any hardware decision needs to be reflective of where the market is going to be 10 years down the line.

Do you honestly believe if you buy a console in 2028 with an optical drive, it'll still be being supported in 2038 ?
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If that's how you perceive it, sure. I didn't say this is Sony's fault or their doing. But there's truth to what I said, albeit it was blunt.

I've never been happy about the idea of an all digital age that doesn't include physical goods. So, sue me for wishing we could continue to own physical goods over digital goods so there could be an inkling of what feels like actual ownership, lol.
 
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If they were open to potentially changing their minds they would have just floated it with a "leaker" to get the reaction. Sony breaking the news means they're fully committed.
 
Absolutely not.

Many of you got what you wanted and Sony "won" this generation and this is the kind of bullshit you get as a result. Microsoft has been planning same damn thing since 2013 and thats no surprise either with Helix.

But for all of you seemingly shocked that Sony is doing this because you thought they were your friend Microsoft bad Sony good I cant help but laugh.

News alert, they both suck.
 
MiguelItUp said:
If that's how you perceive it, sure. I didn't say this is Sony's fault or their doing. But there's truth to what I said, albeit it was blunt.

I've never been happy about the idea of an all digital age that doesn't include physical goods. So, sue me for wishing we could continue to own physical goods over digital goods so there could be an inkling of what feels like actual ownership, lol.
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I used to love Vinyl albums, but the CD revolution largely turned them into minority product for DJ's and collectors... And now, I cannot recall the last time I bought music on CD... I'm honestly not a fan myself, but the direction and inevitability of travel makes it pointless to grieve about.

The key problem Sony have is, as I alluded to in my post, that they have to offer ongoing hardware support if they wish to continue selling physical media to more than a niche market. So its not just a software problem, its a generational hardware problem which impacts the ability to design certain form-factors,

If their post 2028 product is Canis, the mobile PS6 SKU, that was never going to support physical media in the first place. Orion the full-fat PS6 would obviously be sold with a BD drive as an add-on, so essentially irrespective of demand, they would be looking at selling way more digital than physical media over the next decade purely based on hardware offer... Its pretty much a no-brainer.
 
Probably not, cos they're arrogant (not sure why, this is the worst gen they've ever had)

I hope they do U TURN, but people boycott them anyway.

Sony allowing California to run their company = worst decision ever
 
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Clear said:
I used to love Vinyl albums, but the CD revolution largely turned them into minority product for DJ's and collectors... And now, I cannot recall the last time I bought music on CD... I'm honestly not a fan myself, but the direction and inevitability of travel makes it pointless to grieve about.

The key problem Sony have is, as I alluded to in my post, that they have to offer ongoing hardware support if they wish to continue selling physical media to more than a niche market. So its not just a software problem, its a generational hardware problem which impacts the ability to design certain form-factors,

If their post 2028 product is Canis, the mobile PS6 SKU, that was never going to support physical media in the first place. Orion the full-fat PS6 would obviously be sold with a BD drive as an add-on, so essentially irrespective of demand, they would be looking at selling way more digital than physical media over the next decade purely based on hardware offer... Its pretty much a no-brainer.
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I still buy vinyl of albums I love and want to own. Feels good man.

Correct. Exactly, and even with how much "sense" it makes, I still hate it, and that won't ever change, lol. 🤷‍♂️
 
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