Developers Will Still be Able to Print New PS5 Discs, But Only for Older Games - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 July 2026 / 4,029 Views
Sony last week announced it is ending physical game disc production for all new games released on PlayStation consoles starting January 2028.
It has since been clarified that publishers and developers will still be able to place orders for more discs after this date as long as it is for older titles that have previously had a disc release.
Sony in a partner message, seen by Game File, stated publishers and developer "will still be able to place re-orders for existing PlayStation disc games." They did announce the ordering process for discs will change in some TBA ways.
The company also told partners it will "provide publishers with the opportunity to release new games at retail using digital codes." More details will be provided in the future.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Ooo they scared their slowly backtracking,but its not enough! F sony nobody cares about digital code in a box
It's backtracking in the knowledge PS6 won't have a disc drive. Publishers can order discs all they want but if people can't even put it into their console, what's the point?
Yea i know let me dream that sony is scared okej.
The point is ps6 is gonne fail harder then ps3 ever did.
Ps3 is gonne look like the golden age compared to ps6.
Launch PS3, greatest line game linup of all time!!!
Actually most don't care about physical except the very loud minority;.
If that was the case, Sony wouldn't need to skew the numbers...
The split they announced includes numerous games that ONLY have a digital version
The Insomniac leak showed Sony's own first party games are closer to 50/50
Thosw physical to digital ratio is verry skewed and not true at all.
I see this take a lot.
“loud minority” take doesn’t hold up IRL.
Sony loves to throw around 85% digital sales but we all know those numbers only count new full game sales. They completely ignore the massive second hand market.
A ton of people (especially in Europe) buy their physical games used on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, etc. That’s a huge part of how many gamers actually play and it’s only possible because of physical copies.
Also many of these buyers are occasional gamers who pick up a few big titles a year. They get drowned out in the aggregated numbers by people buying dozens of cheap digital games.
So no, I would not be sure it's just a loud minority caring about physical. The second hand market has always been a problem for publishers. it was 50% of saleS in the 90s ans 2000s and only in vg retailers. So was de facto even more if you add "mano a mano" sales. The stats Sony and their defenders use are biased. They ignore this entire ecosystem.
Wonder if this wasn't planned until they saw the backlash. Good to know pre-2028 titles can stay in print until further notice.
Weak attempt at backtracking to dampen the backlash. Personally I will not be onboard until they backtrack completely.
