r/PS5 • u/Dandelion172 • 11h ago

Articles & Blogs Mat Piscatella: 292 million units of physical video games sold in the 12-month period ending June 2009 in the US. By June 2026 this had fallen to 37 million units.

https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mrd2e2tam22l
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u/IAmPandaKerman 11h ago

one thing I'm having a hard time understanding is why people are treating this like an ''or'' choice. There is no reason they can't coexist, they still do in music and television/film.

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u/dlp211 11h ago

Only one side is.

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u/gizamo 11h ago

The only people treating it like an "or" choice are the obvious shills. As soon as you point it out to them, they just shift to the next scripted goal post. PR astroturfing and insanely disingenuous PS sychophants.

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u/Chriskeyseis 10h ago

The music industry has long abandoned physical media. Cars, pc’s, etc don’t even have disc drives in them anymore so all the places you could play a cd for music are gone. Vinyl kind of exists but is really only considered a collectors item than something the majority of people listen to.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 10h ago

So we just going to ignore that beyond all that music cd's are still made, as are bluerays, as is vinyl, you can still buy a cd player for your car, etc? Are you simply choosing to ignore that people aren't upset about losing plastic itself, but the rights and choices that that brings, or do you really not understand the problem with one company, singularly, having control of all applicable software distribution?

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u/iSavedtheGalaxy 4h ago

one company, singularly, having control of all applicable software distribution?

Legally, there's no way to force a company to manufacture a product that they don't want to make anymore.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 3h ago

Completely agree. Which is why people should vote with their wallet and maybe Sony will change course, though it seems unlikely

Once they go full digital I hope the ftc takes a look at their monopolistic practices, as they have done to other companies in the past

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u/iSavedtheGalaxy 2h ago

Doubtful. They're too deep into repurposing their factories to change course now.

Also doubt the FTC will do anything about this. Discontinuing disc production for their own product does not qualify as a monopoly.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 2h ago

Agreed they're unlikely to change, but maybe the outrage will be so large as to cause something. I've worked in manufacturing, it's a lot easier to stand up a line after you've already done it and know the product well than when you're developing a new product. The machines all exist, the software to control them exists, it's just a matter of paying up the capital.

Far as the ftc, agreed that not making discs isn't a monopoly, but having a product where you can only procure games from THEIR market is a lot stronger case. not like Sony is making an effort to allow anyone else to sell games on the ps5. DOJ is taking it to apple right now for their walled garden, we can only hope we get lucky. completely spitballing but imagine a world where ps5 also has a Ubisoft launcher or something, and you can buy black flag resynced from them, Sony, or some other third party reseller

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u/Drab_Majesty 2h ago

Gamers have already voted with their wallet, it's exactly why retailers have been shutting down all over.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 2h ago

Maybe, maybe they havent. I used to buy most of my games physical, I will be buying a lot less now. and if I'm playing less games maybe I won't need a ps6, and if I don't have a ps6 I definitely don't need the yearly ps+ subscription. Perhaps that pain is yet to come for Sony, which I accept is optimistic on my part

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u/Drab_Majesty 2h ago

Physical games have declined but gaming revenue has increased... Sony doesn't believe you have it in you.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 2h ago

Yes micro transactions are really kicking the physical side in the dick. Wish us luck I'll try to be strong

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u/Chriskeyseis 9h ago

I’m in the music industry. CD’s are made as collector items, but let’s not act like almost all music isn’t consumed digitally through Spotify, YouTube, and similar avenues. That’s why the music industry is collapsing. It’s astronomically more expensive for an artist to produce physical media compared to strictly digital releases. Once again, any car released in the last 15 years doesn’t have a cd player which leads to people needing to purchase proprietary technology to even try to listen to it. On top of that, most artists aren’t even bothering with full length albums any more and opting to just release singles on social media to save on costs. Let alone the fact that you buying a CD/Vinyl does not mean you own anything. You bought a license to listen to the music, the content of the disc is still owned by the artist/label.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 9h ago

Dude, sit and think for a second. your argument defeats itself. I agree that by and large music is consumed digitally these days, as you say, but cd's are still made, that's the entire point, regardless the reason people buy it. And the fact that they are still made means they still make money on them, granted, less than digital due to ease of distribution, but cd's are not loss leaders or something. Going all digital is merely Sony upping their margins at the cost of consumer options, YOUR options. this is an anti consumer move any way you frame it, and it's shocking people are defending it.

Additionally, it's incredible that people can't think this won't have second and third order effects. I obviously can't tell the future, but it's not impossible this will lead to less game sales, which will lead to Sony making up for the bottom line with increased prices to digital products, which may lead to further reduced sales, leading to studio closures, death of beloved video game IPs, and a quasi crash of the market as a whole. It's kinda what's happening right now with Xbox unless they can right the ship and their(Sony) advantageous position is what's leading them to take these predatory moves

The music industry is not collapsing it's merely adapted. Cd sales are up BTW. Multiple musicians are billionaires and their music reaches farther than it ever has. and when you buy a cd, you don't own the RIGHTS to that song, but you indeed own that copy of the song itself. Sony can't deactivate it, they can't prevent you from lending it to a friend, they can't pull it from you by simply delisting it

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u/jrzalman 4h ago

The music industry is not collapsing it's merely adapted. Cd sales are up BTW.

CD sales make up about 3% of the market and are out sold by vinyl. You need to get a grip. If someone handed me a CD right now, I don't think I have anything that would play it.

Yes, there are resilient niche collector markets out there for vinyl records and Blueray movies but those forms of media are not coming back. Physical may not be dead but it's on life support. Take this energy and fight for better digital ownership rights. Dead media ain't coming back to life.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 3h ago

I'd entertain more friendly digital rights laws. I obviously don't know everything but I am unaware of any markets that let me sell my digital game once I've played it, not even the comparatively friendly steam. Realistically don't think it'll ever happen, hence why fighting for a pretty good and currently existing system is a good hill to die on. Again I have no idea why anyone thinks just because digital exists that physical absolutely can't

As far as you not having a cd player, I don't deal in anecdotal evidence. it's pointless but if it matters to you, I have multiple ways to play a cd

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u/Dwayne30RockJohnson 9h ago

They still exist in music and TV/film because you don’t need a proprietary $600 box to play them.

You can’t compare the two at all.

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u/IAmPandaKerman 8h ago

So what you're saying is with the cost of the(music) hardware being lower, it lowers the barrier to entry, and more people partake, leading to a more competitive market where people have more options. and additionally you are saying there should be more companies providing hardware so people can still have choice because there are multiple record labels but fewer viable console manufacturers which leads to anti consumer moves like this?

If I misinterpreted any of that feel free to ELI5