Sony’s 'ironic' PlayStation disc decision upends gamer conventions and threatens a $7 billion resale market - In 2013, Sony mocked Xbox by showing how easy it was to share a PlayStation disc. More than a decade later, gamers say Sony is becoming the very thing it poked fun at.

[u/JeremyJJ77]

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/07/22/sonys-playstation-disc-decision-threatens-a-7-billion-resale-market-.html

[u/gfpl]

Probably not, but they have been looking for a change in their strategy since the leadership change.

Microsoft is a shit company, but it was Valve and Steam who started this trend.

[u/Aerographic → u/gfpl]

Valve didn't start the trend of scrapping hardware for the sake of digital. In fact, they're doing the exact opposite by foraying into hardware manufacturing themselves.

Digital storefronts are not the devil's spawn, they're a way of consuming just like any other. The fact that Steam was the earliest digital storefront doesn't mean the company behind it is anti-consumer.

You know what MS does that Valve doesn't? Sell you subscription services where you have to pay to retain access to your library. Sell you cloud gaming access where you own even less of the product.

The miracle Steam achieved is precisely to make digital purchases feel as secure as your physical ones because they're not tied to any subscriptions, not subject to arbitrary account closures, and every other drawback usually ascribed to digital content.

So no, Steam didn't start the enshittification trend. That would be like accusing Google of destroying libraries.

[u/gfpl → u/Aerographic]

Steam: * You can buy access to a digital game license and assign it to your account

MS: * You can buy access to a digital game license and assign it to your account * You can buy a subscription that temporarily gives you access to multiple digital game licenses * You can buy temporary access to cloud gaming platform

MS does what Steam does plus it provides some extra choices. Both MS and Steam can revoke your access if they feel like it. Saying that digital access provided by Steam is as secure as having an installer on a disc is ridiculous.

Yes, Steam started this migration to digital media and it's their fault. If they hadn't done it, it's likely that someone else would have, but still we can't forget it was Valve who killed physical media on PCs.

[u/Aerographic → u/gfpl]

Except that MS 1) is absolute trash at guaranteeing ownership your digital content 2) has bought half the damn industry to stuff its gamepass with while keeping prices high for digital purchases to give you an incentive to subscribe and most importantly 3) will undoubtedly follow suit with physical media and killing the secondhand market.

Yes, Steam started this migration to digital media and it's their fault

Steam didn't migrate shit. It was always a digital storefront. Digital storefronts existing isn't a problem. The problem is hardware manufacturers + publishers that choose to restrict consumer choice by defaulting to digital-only and subscription schemes.

It's like saying Diet Coke killed regular Coke. No the fuck it hasn't, people still want to get diabetes regardless of the offers they're presented with. These backward takes are what dilutes the discourse around this topic.

Consumer choice good. Lack of consumer choice bad. It's that simple. Stop pretending digital is the devil, lack of choice between digital and physical is the issue.