- Sony is already reusing its record factory in Austria
- It is Sony’s only remaining physical media plant
- Existing staff will be hired to work with micro-optics.
We’re still reeling from Sony’s announcement earlier this week that it will stop releasing PlayStation games on physical discs starting in early 2028, and now there’s news that Sony’s last remaining physical media factory is already being repurposed.
According to ORF Salzburg (via The Verge and Google Translate), production at the Austrian plant will fall to around 10% of its current levels by 2028. The factory currently produces 600,000 blank Blu-rays every day (half of which are used for PlayStation games), and Sony has manufactured some 26.4 billion discs in total at its sites.
However, the existing 300 employees will remain, according to Dietmar Tanzer, CEO of Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation). They will be retrained in micro-optics, compressing optical components into the smallest possible spaces.
Instead of disks, the plant’s assembly lines will produce optical microlenses. One of the uses for these elements mentioned in the report is to project automobile turn signals onto the street surface, but there are plenty of potential applications.
‘Now we own nothing’
The report also quotes Markus Streibl, Head of Micro Optics at Sony DADC, who says the company recently invested €30 million (around $34 million / £26 million / AU$49 million) in the technology as it looks to develop this part of its business.
As The Verge discovered, there is evidence that the plant in Austria has been manufacturing microlenses since at least 2024. These small components are actually produced in disks, so there will be some crossover in terms of equipment and processes.
While Sony seems immediately ready to move on and look to the future, many of us are finding it less easy to move on, with gamers vowing to abandon the PlayStation platform over concerns about what this means for game ownership (“we literally own nothing now,” was one comment left by one disgruntled user).
The news has tempered some of the enthusiasm surrounding the opening of GTA 6 pre-orders, and it also means that the PlayStation 6 is highly unlikely to have a built-in disc drive. Sony also announced the closure of the PS3 and Vita stores at the same time.
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