Ubisoft CEO Says PlayStation's Disc Shutdown Won't Shake the Industry Much
Aleksandr Manin
During Ubisoft's quarterly earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot addressed Sony's plan to stop producing physical PlayStation discs for new games by January 2028 and said it should not disturb the industry too much. The comments came after TD Cowen analyst Doug Crutz raised concerns that losing the used games market could create a demand headwind.
Guillemot pointed to the PC market, where the shift to digital distribution did not stop growth. He also said that if consoles become digital-only, that could help lower hardware costs and make machines more accessible.
What we saw on the PC is that it helped to grow the market. There's also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have more accessible machines, I would say. As you said, there are pluses and minuses. But we think it will not disturb, too much, the industry.
The backlash to Sony's plan is about more than resale value. Critics say abandoning discs could hurt ownership, game preservation, and the used game market, which analysts estimate at about $7 billion.
Earlier, PlayStation's Disc Future Looks Grim, according to Yoko Taro. Also, Sony Ends PlayStation Discs drew warnings of an uncertain digital future from Hideo Kojima.
Sony said the PlayStation division would no longer be releasing physical discs of new games by January 2028. Do you think the move to all-digital PlayStation releases will change how players buy and keep games?
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