- Analysts suggest Sony will not reverse its decision to end physical disc production
- Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, says Sony will wait out the backlash
- Toto adds that “digital is too lucrative” for the PlayStation company
Sony plans to end physical disc production in 2028, but despite pushback from fans, analysts suggest the PlayStation maker will not reverse its decision.
The announcement has caused a bit of a stir within the community, and while fans online continue to urge the company to reverse its decision, including creating a petition that has amassed over 247,400 signatures as of this writing, Sony remains silent on the matter.
Others are also PS5 users protesting the plan by canceling their PlayStation Plus subscriptions, with many fans encouraging others to do the same.
However, according to Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy Kantan Games, the boycott won’t change Sony’s mind on the matter.
“I sympathize with physical media fans, but Sony will not reverse this decision,” Toto said in an interview with IGN. “Of course, they knew what the online reaction would be like and now they’re waiting for this storm to pass.”
Toto attributed this to digital being more profitable, and the number of players canceling their PS Plus subscriptions would not be enough to persuade the gaming giant.
“Sony has more than 120 million active PlayStation users,” he said. “Around 50 million people subscribe to PlayStation Plus. As a thought experiment, let’s say 500,000 cancel in protest, that would be just 1% of that lost business; of course, not enough for Sony to start rethinking. Digital is simply too lucrative.”
The profit margins between physical and digital games are significant, especially when considering digital sales of PlayStation’s first-party games.
As IGN calculated, a game like the last of us It would offer Sony 65% of the profits from a physical copy, 30% to the retailer and 5% to production costs. For digital sales made from the PlayStation Store, Sony would retain 100% of the revenue, but for third-party titles like ObligationsThe company would be left with a 30% reduction in the sales price.
“Their current profit margin has been too weak for years, so they feel they must act,” Toto added. “From an economic perspective, digital sales make too much sense, especially for platform holders.”
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