Xbox looks likely to follow PC gaming by doing away with physical media, and Sony is already taking heat for its plans to stop PlayStation disc production by 2028. Whether or not Microsoft’s next-gen, PC-like “Project Helix” console ships with some kind of external disc drive option is up for debate, but we know that Xbox executives are rethinking their strategy around production and shipping, mostly thanks to the unending RAM crisis affecting Xbox console prices.
An understandable knee-jerk reaction across social media has been to quiz PC gamers on why they’re comfortable with Steam’s approach to digital-only game sales and its implied digital rights management, even if the executable DRM wrapper in Steam is apparently optional. Plus, the popular, if runner-up, GOG maintains its stance on DRM-free digital ownership, though it relies on a proactive backup mentality from buyers.
However, regardless of how any retailer pitches itself as supposedly being on the side of consumers, there’s no denying that there’s a scary implication for the future of gaming, whether that’s on Windows PCs or whatever hybrid consoles come next. Sony already plans to close its digital PS3 and PS Vita store, and has withdrawn ownership of digitally purchased movies for UK gamers, due to “content licensing agreements”.
The slow, miserable death of ownership
There’s understandable pushback from some gamers, who ask whether physical discs serve a purpose in 2026, with many questioning whether their peers have even bought a game outside digital stores in the last few years. However, our own readers say they’ll “miss buying physical games”, and I’m firmly in the same boat. Still, the status quo is seemingly shifting to digital purchases (or rentable licenses, depending on who you ask), whether we like it or not.
Besides the obvious benefit of allowing a friend or family member to borrow your games with ease — something Sony is also suffering criticism for on social media, given its previous tongue-in-cheek video response to Xbox’s stance at the time — other elements of physical media now feel stranger in their absence as time goes on. Midnight launches, quirky in-box booklets, and money-saving second-hand sales are relics of the past.
At the risk of sounding like a budding applicant for a nursing home, midnight launches were a huge part of the hype surrounding games. Sure, they’ve been irrelevant for a few years already, but the FOMO effect of seeing hundreds of people queuing to buy a game even piqued my interest in some that I previously had no real desire to play, now replaced by refreshing web browsers to pre-order a digital GTA 6 code for $100.
Even today, after picking up a Switch 2, I’m borrowing Switch 1 cartridges from friends to catch up on Nintendo’s modern era, spending a grand total of zero dollars on second-hand titles. Now, as the company moves towards Virtual Game Cards, it feels like this will likely be the last generation that lets me borrow games. Sorry to all the younger siblings out there, but you’ll need to buy your own copies — no more hand-me-down goldmines.
It feels like this will likely be the last generation that lets me borrow games.
Frankly, I rarely even spend the full amount on PC games, opting instead for discounted CD keys from Loaded or somewhere similar. I’m so regularly frustrated when I see pre-owned boxed games grow cheaper — depending on their rarity — while some digital copies remain expensive. From now on, we can only hope for sales events and pray the platform owners never shut down and take our licenses away.
Are you concerned with the disappearance of physical game discs, or are you fine with digital ownership — perhaps as long as there’s a plan in place to transfer licenses in the future? I’m interested in takes from both sides, and the justifications for anything in between. Let me know in the comments, because it’s certainly a turbulent time for gamers, no matter what opinion you hold.
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