The controversial decision to axe physical PlayStation discs arrived as a bombshell last week. Gamers were caught off guard by the news, and reports today suggest even game developers and publishers were left blindsided. Sony cited “shifting trends in consumer preference” in its original announcement, but it seems the company failed to warn even its close working partners.

Sony continues to receive backlash following its decision to announce the end of physical discs for PlayStation consoles, starting January 2028. Some game retailers have already said they will continue to support physical media, and an online petition asking for Sony to reverse its decision, named ‘Don’t kill the disc’, has received more than 167,000 signatures at the time of writing.

Industry insiders were also surprised by Sony killing PlayStation discs

“Despite our seemingly close working relationship with PlayStation, we weren’t informed that this was happening,” says an executive at a major AAA publisher, according to a new report from High Chaos Run.

The publication claims, as per its sources, that some regional offices were left out of the loop too. PlayStation India was reportedly negotiating investments into ‘exclusive PlayStation brick-and-mortar stores’ before the announcement, supposedly eying up 100 of these stores in India by 2028. An investor involved is quoted as saying, “PlayStation India didn’t even tell us this was happening before it went public, but kept asking us to put money in all the same. They didn’t know either.”

Unlike some of the backlash we’ve seen from game retailers (such as GAME España / GAME Spain), devs and publishers have been much quieter in any official capacity. That’s not to say there haven’t been signs. Eagle-eyed fans recently spotted a change in Naughty Dog’s profile banner, now featuring a collection of discs. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima was much more open, however, calling the situation “really sad” last week.

You may think GTA 6 launching without a disc was a major turning point, but PlayStation has reportedly been planning this change for a while. Users have also speculated that even Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive were unaware of what was coming, due to the PlayStation app only briefly donning a GTA 6-themed app logo – but this is speculation at best.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.