Sony’s decision to stop selling physical disks for its games makes a certain kind of sense from a mercilessly realist point of view—I’d be a hypocrite if I, a person with the majority of my games on one platform (Steam), shook my fist and wept for the end of physical media.
But aside from the sentimental concerns—which, honestly, I don’t hold as any less important, there’s more to life than money—there is a capitalist argument against the move, too, for both the consumer and the people who make videogames. If Sony ends physical disk sales, Sony decides how much a game on the PlayStation costs, forever.
Such is the argument of one Dutch consumer group that’s currently suing Sony for their proposed changes, stating last month that “no discs means no second-hand market and no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it.”
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At the very least, despite Steam’s monolithic popularity, Valve’s not capable of forcing anybody to use it. You can still use GOG or Itch.io or… Epic, if you really wanted to. The death of physical media for PC means something very different than the death of media for consoles.
The consumer organisation, by the name of Stichting Massaschade & Consument, has gained support from another key player in the growing videogamer consumer rights movement—Stop Killing Games, which posted a video to its YouTube channel explaining its choice to throw its weight behind SM&C.
“Have you ever noticed that digital PlayStation games are more expensive than physical ones?” asks the video. I decided to fact-check this real quick, and, surely enough—if I wanted to buy Spider-Man 2 from the store, I’d currently have to shell out £69.99. If I wanted that same game from Amazon, I could get it for £37.77. GameUK has a deal for £59.99, currently. Some eBay listings for second-hand copies are going for as little as a tenner at the time of writing.
“You’d expect digital games to be cheaper—so what’s going on? Sony has a monopoly on digital game sales on PlayStation … And once Sony stops selling physical games in 2028, you won’t have any choice at all.”
The video’s description reads: “We’re backing SM&C’s (Stichting Massaschade & Consument) lawsuit against Sony over its total control of PlayStation Store pricing. We’re putting our full weight behind SM&C’s case, with the Dutch court.
“SM&C has to show the court it actually represents gamers, not just claims to. Our support backs that up globally. Every Dutch gamer who signs on backs it up directly.”
Stop Killing Games will also be joined by preservation site DoesItPlay, the owner of which actually spoke with our own James Bentley this week, echoing a similar sentiment: “Less options for people is always a bad thing,” Clemens Istel says. “Especially if the only option is a future in which your purchased goods can just be taken away or altered whenever somebody else pleases.”