u/Conscious_Shelter_82

Sony claims 85% of game purchases are digital - a number that lumps in DLC, multiplayer-only titles, indie games, and more, which makes it pretty misleading. Here's a simple counterexample:

I buy around 80% of my games digitally. But the ability to purchase physical editions is essential, and losing that option - dealbreaker. Some of my favorite games are ones I bought physically (for that reason, i actually "double-dipped" for some), and I plan to keep doing that.

By Sony's own math, that probably makes me a "digital buyer." But that remaining 20% matters enough that if physical editions disappeared, I'd simply go back to PC with open platform, multiple competing stores & sites like GOG where I actually own purchased games, also no subscription for multiplayer.

Honestly I'm baffled by some people here defending Sony. It's all to increase profits the following quarters for shareholders. You can say goodbye to PS Store deals and sales in 2028 - why compete with prices when there is no competition? This decision will affect them as well.

It also wouldn't surprise me if they do obligatory subscription (for offline too) for PS6 inspired by NEX console. I guess some will be defending that decision as well.

Articles like this one show that the "85/15" split Sony likes to cite is misleading. For some games it's actually closer to "50/50". I want to remind the community (and Sony) how a lot of gamers actually get their start.

As i kid with 0$ net-worth, my parent's weren't keen on spending their hard earned money on "video games". In their view games should be "free" since they already bought me a console. If they ever bought one - guess what, they went to store and bought it for me.

So how did I mostly get into gaming? You've guessed it - by borrowing games from friends who had them! Sony hates that - that's evident. But what's the ultimate result of that? I became a gamer for life and made purchases in thousands of dollars during my lifetime.

With the rising costs of living, physical editions are becoming essential, especially with the lower-income communities. With SONY's decision, significantly more than 15% of the gaming community will essentially be killed off. It shrinks the pipeline that produces new gamers in the first place, which hits future console and game sales too.

Yes, PS store has great sales - i bought games during them, but if you think those will continue with the same momentum once they destroy other markets with this decision, I've got some bad news for you.

That's why this affects digital-only gamers as well. Expect rising prices and/or more pressure toward subscriptions down the line.

P.S. "15%" of gamers is not 15 or 100 people, that's millions of players who love this hobby. That's a significant number. And as explained above, it's much more than that.

Digital-only, in practice: delisted modern classic you can't experience unless you find a used disc

If you think this doesn't affect you, think again

I'm "digital" by Sony's numbers - but that last 15% is why I'd leave PlayStation

Sony killed off more than 15% of the gaming audience and WHY it matters to digital-only gamers