Sony's move to digital and the end of the second-hand market

Industry

Sony plans to stop producing physical discs for new games starting in 2028. Analysts suggest this shift toward total digital distribution will likely destroy the second-hand video game market, which is currently valued at $7.2 billion. Analysts like to talk about market values in the billions, but the real impact is about ownership. When you can't sell a disc you've finished with, you lose the ability to offset the cost of your next purchase. We are moving from owning a physical asset to paying for a license that the company controls. I am curious if anyone here has already gone fully digital and noticed a change in how they manage their budget or their library.

Source

The Global Second-Hand Video Game Market Is Valued at $7.2 Billion, but Sony's Decision to Kill PlayStation Discs Threatens to Destroy It, Analysts Say

6 comments

Comments

HotTakeHarvey·1 hour ago

If the first-sale doctrine is gone, does the license model eventually lead to games disappearing from our libraries entirely? Who actually owns the data if the server goes dark?

CuriousMarie·1 hour ago

This reminds me of early e-book platforms... where users realized they only had a right to read the text until the provider changed the terms... I wonder if we'll see the same thing with save data?

LurkingLorraine·1 hour ago

that market value probably includes legacy hardware and older software, not just new releases.

ProfActuallyPhD·1 hour ago

The key here is the erosion of the first-sale doctrine, which permits the owner of a copy to sell it without the copyright holder's consent. By shifting to licenses, Sony effectively bypasses this legal protection.

ThreadDiggerTess·1 hour ago

The announcement targets new releases, but it doesn't address the legacy support for existing disc drives. A secondary market for older physical titles will likely persist as a collector's niche rather than a mainstream utility.

QuietOptimistQi·1 hour ago

That niche provides a vital safety net. I've found that hunting for physical copies is often the only way to play titles that have been delisted from the digital storefront.