With Sony’s news this morning that it will be discontinuing production of all physical discs for PlayStation games in 2028, some analysts are suggesting this is an indicator that the PS6—and Xbox’s Project Helix, too—will be digital-only devices, and will launch in 2028.
This comes from comments made by multiple analysts in response to the news. Speaking to Kotaku via email, Circana senior director Mat Piscatella says that “it is safe to now assume that both PlayStation 6 and Project Helix will be digital only devices.” He notes that Nintendo will continuing producing physical cartridges for Nintendo Switch software, at least through the end of the Switch 2’s life cycle.
“Physical media in video games will only last so long as the console manufacturers allow it to, and we’re now one step closer to its death. It’s a sad day in the world of video games.”
Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games also responded to Kotaku‘s email in agreement with Piscatella on both Nintendo continuing physical releases for a little while longer, and also Xbox following PlayStation’s lead in moving away from discs. “Would anybody be surprised if XBOX now did the same as PlayStation with their next hardware?”
Update 10:40am ET: Daniel Ahmad, director of research & insights with Niko Partners, has similarly chimed in: “This move guarantees that the PlayStation 6 will ship without a disc drive and Sony is embracing an all digital future. I think many expected Microsoft to make this announcement first, but Sony has beaten them to the punch.”
Original story continues below:
In a blog post, Ampere Analytics analyst Piers Harding-Rolls also mentions the digital-only future for the PS6.
At a minimum, the standard version of a PS6 will not include a physical media disc drive. Sony will be looking for all the ways it can reduce the cost of its next-gen console, and this is an easy win. It’s possible that an add-on disc drive could be made available to play older PS4 and PS5 games on disc. Removing the drive will upset some gamers that don’t want to pay for an add-on disc drive (if available) and that want to access their game collections on disc. It may be too impractical or too complex, but some process of transferral for older physical media to a digital license could alleviate some of these issues.
Harding-Rolls also says that the fact that this change will take place in January 2028 tells us something else about the PS6, at least: that it will launch in 2028. He predicts “at the end of 2028,” specifically. Previously, analysts had expected the next generation of consoles to land between late 2027 and early 2028.
In addition to the discontinuation of physical games in 2028, Sony is also preparing to shut down the PS3 and Vita digital stores next year.
