After Sony announced that it would gradually bid farewell to PlayStation physical discs in the future, it triggered a massive backlash from players, with many people shouting “The physical version cannot disappear.” But the latest market data brings another embarrassing reality to the discussion. Analyst Mat Piscatella pointed out that so far in 2026, only 7 physical versions of PlayStation games in the United States have sold more than 100,000 units, indicating that players who actually spend money to buy discs may be much less vocal than those online.
The Internet is shouting loudly, but the physical market is getting smaller and smaller.
According to data shared by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, the U.S. PlayStation physical game market continues to shrink this year. So far, only 7 works have sold physical versions of more than 100,000 units. Piscatella believes that many players on social platforms continue to request to keep the physical version, but judging from market data, the number of people who actually buy the disc has dropped significantly. He also bluntly said that the volume of voice in the message area does not necessarily equal market demand.
Keeping the CD does not mean you will definitely buy it
These remarks immediately sparked heated discussions among players. Many people retorted that they supported the physical version because they wanted to retain the right to collect, resell and permanently save the game, rather than necessarily buying a disc for every game. Others have pointed out that Sony has continued to promote digital versions of consoles in recent years, and many retailers have reduced their sales space for physical games, which will itself affect disc sales. Therefore, sales data cannot be used solely to judge whether players value physical versions.
What’s really noisy is not sales.
Sony has been actively promoting digitalization recently, making “whether physical versions still have a future” a hot topic in the gaming circle. This data also reflects an intriguing phenomenon: on one hand, the market continues to move closer to digital, and on the other hand, players still want to retain their options. Therefore, this debate may never be about “whether the disc sells well or not”, but whether players want to choose to buy discs in the future. After all, when the option disappears, even if someone is willing to support, there is no chance.