In a move that’s sure to not win any fans, Sony announced today that it will stop making physical discs for new Playstation titles starting in 2028. A press release on Sony’s Playstation blog states: “In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only.”

This news comes after it was discovered that Sony would remove over 500 purchased titles from Playstation users in the UK due to the expiration of licensing agreements. To make matters worse, the Playstation Blog also announced that the PS3 and PS Vita online stores will be shutting down over the course of this and next year.

Sony’s announcement wasn’t entirely unforeseen, of course. Grand Theft Auto VI, maybe the most anticipated game of the decade, won’t be launched on a physical disc. Additionally, both the Playstation 5 and Xbox are available without a disc drive entirely. 

As unfortunate as it is among those of us who still like physical media, the rest of the gaming and movie-watching market just don’t follow that trend. In a cold, unfeeling financial sense, it’s logical why Sony decided to cease production of physical discs. It sees that most people just download or stream movies or games anyway, negating the need to have a production facility for physical copies. Let’s also not forget the graveyard of “dead” Sony media formats. 

For everyone else, however, it follows a concerning trend among big publishers, showing that you don’t truly “own” your digitally purchased games or movies in the traditional sense and your library of titles could be erased based on the whim of the publisher. It’s not just Sony who is to blame.

Of course, there is still a huge market for physical copies of media. There’s a reason why, for example, vinyl records are still popular. There will always be a group of people who want to physically hold a copy of something in their hands. Records, cassettes, Blu-Rays, CDs, and DVDs will probably always exist in some form or another, but for the moment, it looks like new Playstation games won’t be joining that list.