Sony Is Talking To Retailers Around The Globe Regarding Its Digital-Only Future

Sony’s chief financial officer has revealed during a Q&A session following its latest financial results that it has been discussing its digital-only plans with retailers worldwide.

Lin Tao revealed that the format holder is looking to find solutions that will keep both parties happy, and hinted that physical releases could still happen, albeit with a code supplied in a box in regions such as North America. As previously reported, Tao revealed that despite the “strong views” shared by its community on the decision to stop physical game disc production, Sony is still going forward with the move.

For the last 30 years we have been selling PlayStation and retail partners have always been important to us. With the completion of disc production we communicated this at an early stage, so that we have enough time to be able to listen to various partners’ voices. In North America this has already happened, but without discs in the package there’s a code included, that’s how they sell in North America. There are regional characteristics for each regional partner, so we’ll try to have thorough dialogue so that we can end up in a win-win situation.

Sony announced its plans to cease production of game discs on PlayStation in January 2028, a decision that was met with considerable backlash by consumers online. Shawn Layden, the former chairman of SIE, responded to the news by stating that while he didn’t necessarily agree with it, he suggested that perhaps “it’s just too prohibitively expensive to stamp out discs.”

Meanwhile, an analyst firm has stated that Sony’s decision to stop producing game discs all but guarantees that the PS6 will not launch until 2028, and will not support physical media.

[Source – VGC]