Sony's disc exit is pure math, says ex-PlayStation boss

Sony's decision to stop producing physical game discs for new titles from January 2028 has dominated gaming conversations for two weeks — and now the clearest explanation has come from someone who used to run the company's studios.

Shawn Layden, who led PlayStation Worldwide Studios until he left in 2019, told Eurogamer the move is straightforward economics. "If a company stops making a product or supporting a service, almost always those decisions are made on the basis of a spreadsheet," he said. Digital downloads now account for 85% of PS4 and PS5 full-game sales in Sony's most recent fiscal quarter, leaving physical media at just 15%.

The numbers behind the call

Layden remembers a time when digital sales were barely 10% of the market — and before that, when the category didn't exist at all. His read: Sony has reached the threshold it always said it was waiting for. "When I was asked 'when will you get rid of the disc drive?' I always answered: when broadband speed and penetration globally has reached the point where most users can download games without trouble," he said. "The company has probably reached that moment."

His bluntest framing: "If 80% of your audience is generating 95% of your revenue, what's the point of continuing to support discs for the remaining 20%?"

What about used games?

Theories have circulated that Sony wants to kill the second-hand market. Layden doesn't buy it. He points out that the used-game business was already in structural decline long before this announcement — GameStop has closed over 1,300 stores in recent years as digital sales eroded the trade-in model. "I don't believe Sony's decision is driven by fear of the secondary market," he said. "It's already been showing negative momentum for a long time."

The shift already underway

Sony confirmed via the PlayStation Blog that retailers will continue to receive discs for games released before January 2028, but titles after that date will ship in digital formats only. What that looks like in practice — a code card in a box, a download voucher — hasn't been fully specified. GTA 6's "physical" edition, which reportedly shipped with a download code rather than a disc, showed that the retail model is already shifting.

Layden's own position: he disagrees with the decision but understands it. He's been out of the industry long enough to see it clearly. When the spreadsheet says 85%, the disc era ends.