Former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios CEO, Shawn Layden, believes Sony cannot afford to release a completely digital, disc-less PlayStation 6. While acknowledging Xbox's success with this strategy, Layden emphasizes Sony's significantly larger global market share. Eliminating physical games would alienate a substantial portion of their user base.
Layden highlighted Xbox's success primarily within English-speaking countries (U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa). He contrasted this with Sony's dominance across approximately 170 countries, questioning the accessibility of a fully digital console for users in regions with less reliable internet infrastructure, citing examples like rural Italy. He also mentioned other groups reliant on physical media, such as athletes traveling and military personnel stationed on bases with limited online access. Layden suggested Sony is likely assessing the potential impact on these market segments.
The debate surrounding disc-less consoles has persisted since the PlayStation 4 era, intensifying with Xbox's digital-only releases. Both PlayStation and Xbox offer digital-only console versions (PS5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series S), but Sony has yet to fully commit to a disc-less model. This is further evidenced by the availability of external disc drives for their digital consoles, including the PS5 Digital Edition.
The ongoing shift towards digital distribution, fueled by services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus's Games Catalog, raises questions about the future of physical media. Declining physical media sales and the increasing prevalence of games requiring online installation (even those on disc, such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), further support this trend. The practice of including what was once a second disc as downloadable content underscores this shift.
AnswerSee Results This is largely due to the fact that even Sony's digital-only consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, can be upgraded with external disc drives. However, the growing popularity of subscription services and the decline of physical media sales continue to fuel speculation about the eventual phasing out of disc-based games.
