Disc or downloads: How do you buy your games?

People who play on PlayStation will face a big change in how new games are sold.

Imagine getting a brand-new game from a shop, but instead of finding a disc inside the box, there is a code to download the game onto your console.

That is the kind of change coming to new PlayStation games from January 2028, according to PlayStation manufacturer Sony.

The company says new games will still be available to buy in shops, but they will be sold in digital formats rather than on physical discs.

Sony said the change is happening as the entertainment industry continues to "shift away from physical discs to digital".

Digital games are already popular. They can be convenient for some players, and there is no need for physical boxes on shelves.

But not everyone is happy about the decision.

Some gamers like discs because it means they physically own a game, they can lend them to friends, sell them on, swap them and second-hand discs can be bought for less money.

Speaking to BBC Newsround, gaming expert Dan Dawkins, Content Director for the Future Games Show & Golden Joystick Awards, said: "I feel [the announcement] disproportionately hurts younger players who have no regular income.

Gaming journalist Vikki Blake said: "It's of huge concern".

She explained that second hand games are cheaper making them more affordable for some players, describing the change as "a massive problem for gamers" who "rely on part-exchanging or loaning games from friends to keep up with the AAA price tags."

However, Dawkins says gamers can still expect discounts: "In reality, the PlayStation Store is already home to a lot of favourable game sales and discounts. It's not uncommon to see premium games - between 12-36 months old - selling for discounts of 70% or higher. Even if there's only one marketplace.

"I'm less worried about games being discounted, than I am your ability to recoup some value from games you already own by trading them in."

Asked whether this is the direction the whole games industry is now heading, Dan Dawkins told Newsround: "They won't disappear completely by 2028, but it is likely more a case of 'when' than 'if'.

"Xbox tried to make it mandatory for all games - both physical and digital - to require an online 'key' in order to lock out the used-game [preowned] market back in 2013, which was met by a fierce consumer backlash.


"At that time, Sony reacted and claimed they'd never require a player to have online access to play a single-player game. Fast forward 13 years, and it's Sony who are accelerating the digital-only future.

"However, while physical sales were dominant in 2013, game sales in some countries are now 80% digital, or even higher. It's possible some players won't even notice that discs are being phased out."

"It's worth noting that it is only Sony's first-party (i.e. games created by them) games that are committing to a digital-only model, adds Dawkins.

"I'd expect more game publishers to follow Sony's lead, but they don't have to - and, in fact, it might be an advantage for some games to say they still provide a physical disc."

Sony says the change will not affect games that are already out, or games released before January 2028.

The BBC has asked Sony whether people might one day be able to transfer ownership of a digital game to someone else, but Sony has not yet commented.

So what do you think - discs or downloads? Do you prefer a game you can hold, or a digital version that lives on your console? Let us know in the comments.