While recent financial reports indicate that the share of digital downloads on PlayStation platforms is rising—reaching an astonishing 85% in the last quarter—physical media continues to command a massive slice of the market. New industry data reveals that PS5 and PS4 titles accounted for 45% of all physical games sold in the UK throughout 2025.
This performance translates to a retail revenue of £300 million (roughly $400 million) for the year. The figures arrive as the Entertainment Retailer’s Association (ERA) intensifies its pushback against Sony’s decision to cease the manufacturing of physical games by January 2028.
The Argument for Physical Media
Kim Bayley, CEO of the ERA, recently condemned the platform holder’s roadmap, framing the transition as a loss of consumer autonomy. Speaking to The Game Business, Bayley stated, “PlayStation’s announcement that major games will no longer be available on disc is a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice.”
Bayley emphasized that the value of physical discs extends beyond the initial purchase. “Every year, millions of gamers still choose to buy physical copies because they value true ownership,” she said. “A disc can be shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved and, crucially, still played years from now. A download license often offers none of those freedoms.”
Retailer Concerns for Industry Health
The trade group’s stance is that digital distribution should act as a supplement to physical formats rather than a replacement. According to the ERA, removing the option to buy physical media is detrimental to the broader gaming ecosystem, affecting retailers and limiting how consumers interact with their entertainment. “The industry should be embracing every legitimate way consumers want to buy games, not narrowing their choices,” Bayley added.
While Sony has not publicly addressed the specific pushback from trade groups, the company’s internal logic for the shift appears rooted in profit margins; it is estimated that the company must sell two physical discs to match the revenue generated by a single digital download. With the market skewing heavily toward digital, Sony seems prepared to phase out physical production entirely, despite the clear continued demand for disc-based games evidenced by the 2025 UK revenue figures.