As the internet does so well, it’s full of black and white hot-takes and very little nuance and context. It’s odd that people are shocked by PlayStation’s announcement that they’re ending physical media, cause I was already late to the game on discussing my opinion about this back in 2024!
I’m by no means Nostradamus here though, as many people have been predicting this long before me, including the now infamous post by Hideo Kojima:
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Eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative. Whenever there is a major change or accident in the world, in a country, in a government, in an idea, in a trend, access to it may suddenly be cut off.— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) August 5, 2021
Physical vs Digital Media
I want to be clear that I have no horse in this race. There are pros and cons to both, but I don’t think the other side needs to “shut up and stop whining about it.” Whatever your preference, as long as you’re paying for your entertainment, you should be able to enjoy it however you’d like to.
Personally, for mental health, I retired from collecting physical media years ago. As much as I love it and still get nostalgic for it, it was occupying too much physical and mental space and I needed to clear the decks. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t just dump my collection though. My entire movies, TV, music, and game collections were donated to some kids that got so much more fun out of it.
I still get excited by news of new horror box sets, but I leave it at look, but don’t touch. So, while I’ve personally stopped buying physical media, that’s not the same as me saying “screw you” to people that still enjoy buying, collecting, and displaying it. Right now, you can still buy physical media very cheap, but I do feel bad for them, because not only will it be impossible to buy some media in physical form moving forward, like the upcoming GTA 6, but when media is released physically, it will only be special limited runs (in other words, much more expensive).
The Entire Game Isn’t Even on the Disc Anyway
The natural debate happening now is that some people are pushing back and saying that in many cases, the full game isn’t even on the disc anyway, and it serves as nothing more than a formality to verify a product key and download the game. Others are snapping back that no, the full game really is on the disc, and that you can play the full thing without ever even needing an internet connection.
The truth of course, lies somewhere between. Certainly yes, video games were once truly complete on disc, no different than movies, TV, or music. So a physical copy was a complete and transferable copy. You could buy it used, resell it, share it, and store it for preservation, no third-party interference ever took place.
It’s been well over a decade now though since that’s been the case. Sure, you can still technically buy modern games and play them to completion on disc without ever needing an internet connection in some cases, but the claim that it’s truly complete is fairly weak at this point.
Most modern AAA games you buy now, ignoring issues of needing to agree to a EULA before being able to play or multiplayer, still almost always come with a massive day-one patch, with many more updates and content to come.
So complete becomes nearly obsolete after just the very first day and only gets worse as time goes on. Just about the only way to get a game in a truly complete form now would be to wait a few years for a definitive edition that already contains all the updates and DLC.
It’s Not Just About Physical Discs
This is the one argument that’s actually the most valid, and you’re right, this is a massive concern for ownership. It’s not theoretical either. We’ve already seen instances where media people bought, not rented, disappeared from their libraries because of licensing or other legal or technological issues.
Platforms are going to be forced to rethink digital codes or face class-action lawsuits. Right now, when you redeem a code for a movie, game, etc. it permanently becomes burned and can never be used again, and the media that was redeemed is locked to whatever account used it. But now, if digital is the only option, keys will need to become more flexible, so that they can be linked, unlinked, and transferred between accounts.
Switch 2 seems to have found a decent solution for this problem. It’ll be interesting to see how Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, Apple, Movies Anywhere, and other digital media platforms adopt similar options.
The Five Stages of Grief
Physical media lovers are going through something very real right now, and it maps almost perfectly to the five stages of grief:
- Denial: “The full game is on the disc, you don’t need internet.” “Physical media isn’t going anywhere.”
- Anger: The online outrage, the boycott threats, the “stop whining” counter-attacks.
- Bargaining: “What if platforms just made keys transferable?” Switch 2 game-key cards are essentially the industry’s answer to this.
- Depression: Best Buy exits physical media. PlayStation sets an end date. GTA 6 ships without a disc.
- Acceptance: Physical media doesn’t disappear completely, it becomes boutique. Scream Factory, Criterion, and Waxwork Records will continue to offer limited pressings for those who truly care. It gets more expensive and more special, which is potentially both a good and bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
People don’t like change, naturally, but if I can leave you with any hope at all, it’s this: as storytellers, humans will always find a way to preserve our stories, one way or another. 🏴☠️
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