Sony confirmed this week that physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. That means every new PS5 title launching after that date will exist only as a download. 

Games like the upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine will still ship on disc this year, and older catalogue titles aren’t going anywhere.

The Resale Value Of Physical Games 

You can see how much value physical games still hold after purchase. Open Carousell and search “PS5 games used” and you’ll find hundreds of listings, from RM60 to RM200 for recent titles, or RM1,500 to RM2,700 for full consoles bundled with a stack of discs. That market exists because physical games can change hands. 

Buy a RM339 game, finish it in a few weeks, and sell it for around RM200. Your real cost drops to roughly RM100–RM150. Once games go digital-only, a whole secondary market disappears.. 

Physical copies also put you less at the mercy of digital storefronts. As long as the game doesn’t require an online connection, you can still pop in the disc and play, even if PlayStation Network or the PlayStation Store has problems.

Full Price Becomes The Only Price

The second-hand market has always done something digital stores can’t and that’s created price competition. When GTA VI’s standard edition already costs RM339, above the RM249 to RM299 most new releases go for, and last year’s blockbuster is sitting on Carousell for RM80, publishers don’t have complete control over what players actually pay. 

Once every new PlayStation game exists only as a download, publishers gain much more control over what players pay and when prices fall. Next thing you know, you’re buying a game that’s the same price as your rent. 

No More Ownership, Only Access 

Buying a digital game has never guaranteed you’ll have access to it forever. Unlike physical discs, what you’re really buying is a licence to access a game, and that licence depends on publisher decisions.

Ubisoft’s shutdown of The Crew in 2024 brought that issue into focus. Players who had paid for the game were locked out after its servers were switched off; the backlash helped fuel the Stop Killing Games campaign, which has since gathered nearly 1.3 million signatures in Europe. It also prompted California to pass AB 2426, requiring sellers of digital games to clearly disclose when a purchase is a revocable licence rather than outright ownership. 

Buy Physical While You Can

If you buy a handful of games a year and resell them when you’re done, that’s literally Game Over for your fun. Games released on disc before January 2028 will keep their resale value long after production ends while new releases from 2028 onward won’t.

This week’s announcement made me look at my own collection differently. I’ve got a box of PS2 games and a stack of CDs I’ve been meaning to sell for years. Not anymore.

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