- Sony CFO Lin Tao confirmed that the company will cautiously move forward with its plan to end PlayStation physical disc production.
- Sony decided to end physical disc production as digitalisation is progressing in all forms of media.
- Lin Tao also confirmed that they are aware of fans' emotions and aims to engage with them in alternate ways.
One month ago, Sony announced that it would stop producing physical game discs in 2028. After remaining silent for weeks, the company finally addressed the backlash during its Q1 2026 earnings call today. Sony CFO Lin Tao has now confirmed that the company will “cautiously move forward” with its plan to end PlayStation physical disc production.
Ever since Sony dropped the bombshell that it’s killing physical games for good, gamers have been flooding official PlayStation posts with no disc, no buy comments and signing petitions to make their voices heard. During the earnings call, Lin Tao explained that Sony decided to end PlayStation disc production as all kinds of content is heading towards an all-digital future.
“There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that digitalisation of content overall has been progressing; that’s the big factor. It’s not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content; digitalisation is progressing,” Lin Tao said.
Therefore, even after hearing backlash from fans, Sony is still cautiously moving forward with its plan to end PlayStation physical disc production. “And so, when we think about the future, we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward,” Lin Tao added.
After explaining why the company remains committed to its digital ecosystem, Sony’s CFO also confirmed that the company is aware of the ongoing backlash on social media platforms (even brands have joined in with jokes) and understands fans’ emotions. “To this decision, we have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forward those views to us,” Lin Tao remarked.
Games are loved by many people; it’s a form of entertainment that’s loved by people, and it’s connected to people’s fond memories in many cases, and so we understand those emotions.
Despite acknowledging the community’s feedback, Sony has no plans to bring back physical discs. Instead, Lin Tao said the company will continue exploring alternate ways to engage PS gamers. “We want to consider that, and in the future digital ecosystem, ‘how do we engage the gamers’ is something that we would like to continue to explore,” Lina Tao noted.
Sony didn’t even warn publishers before announcing the end of physical discs, so the company will of course stick to its digital future plan. Recently, fans have also organized a voluntary protest in August called the PlayStation Blackout. So, let us wait and see whether Sony will reconsider their decision after the protest in late August.
