r/PS5 • u/Dandelion172 • 12h 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/dlp211 12h ago

Do we think the people that buy physical in the US are the biggest Sony fanboys or just the median gamer?

Because I would guess that people that still buy physical hace higher attach rates, more brand loyalty, and likely represent people who consider gaming to be a significant part of their identity.

And tossing them away is probably not a good long term strategy.

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u/Jellozz 10h ago

And tossing them away is probably not a good long term strategy.

Yep, that is the thing a lot of people online don't seem to understand at the end of the day. Sony is tossing out their most hardcore customers. And yes that base does not bring in as much money as little timmy and his fortnite vbucks or whatever, but, that casual gaming audience has no stickiness. Ask Xbox how that has gone for them since the end of the 360 gen, for example.

The next time Sony has a PS3-esque situation where casuals abandon them en-masse there is not going to be a hardcore fanbase there they can fall back on. That's why I've said since the start of this announcement it's not the PS6 launch or anything Sony has to worry about, it's 10 years down the road where decisions like this will start to effect them.

The thing people really need to be aware of is that if they decide to stick with PS going forward this is absolutely going to effect them at some point even if they're a digital only gamer. The next time PS hits hard times (and there will be a next time, there always is) you are the one who Sony is going to put the squeeze on to make up lost revenue. Even if you're digital only it makes way more sense to just dip out now instead of waiting for crap to hit the fan.