Sony Ends PS5 Disc Production, Retrains Workers at Austria Plant

Sony has begun reshuffling personnel at a major optical disc manufacturing site after deciding to end physical production for PlayStation 5 games.

Although Sony has already committed to a digital-only approach for new PS5 releases starting in January 2028, workers at the company’s disc facility in Thalgau, Austria are now scheduled for retraining. The move has raised concerns that Sony may start scaling back disc releases before that 2028 deadline.

Right now, Sony’s Thalgau plant produces an enormous volume of discs—about 600,000 per day. PS5 titles make up roughly half of that output. However, that number is expected to drop sharply, and the staff will be redirected toward producing optical microlenses instead.

What’s Changing at Sony’s Thalgau Disc Plant

Dietmar Tanzer, CEO of Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation), said PlayStation is still a major part of their production mix, but that the share will shrink by the time 2028 arrives.

In comments to local outlet Salzburg ORF, Tanzer said: “PlayStation currently accounts for approximately 50 percent of our volume, and of that, approximately 20 percent are new orders. We are talking about roughly 10 percent of the volume in 2028.”

Sony’s announcement earlier this week triggered strong backlash across the industry. Fans and other developers reacted negatively, and the decision was mocked by celebrities and brands. Even so, the data points to physical game sales falling quickly from year to year.

Tanzer also addressed job security. He said the company’s shift away from discs would not mean layoffs at the Thalgau factory. Instead, its 300 employees will retrain to work on “micro optics,” including lenses capable of projecting a car’s turn-signal light onto the road.

Analysts have read Sony’s plan for an all-digital PS5 future as further evidence that PS6 is unlikely to include disc support either. The reporting reinforces that view, with no indication Sony intends to ramp disc production back up for the start of the next console era. The company has also suggested it won’t sell new hardware at a major loss, even as the market deals with what some have dubbed a “RAMpocalypse.”

One reason a disc-free PS6 could be coming is cost control, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls suggested this week. He argued that leaving out a disc drive would be an “easy win” for reducing component expenses.

Harding-Rolls added that Sony may look for alternatives, such as an add-on disc drive option, allowing older PS4 and PS5 disc games to be played. He noted the trade-off: asking players to pay for an extra disc drive could upset people who don’t want to buy a peripheral just to use their existing physical collections. Even so, he suggested that some form of transferring older disc ownership into a digital license could ease those concerns—though he acknowledged it might be difficult or too complex to implement cleanly.

Do You Support an All-Digital Gaming Future?

Sony’s move doesn’t appear isolated. Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox—reportedly codenamed Project Helix—is also said to launch without a disc drive. Alongside that, Microsoft is reportedly considering a new disc-to-digital capability, letting players insert a physical disc into the console to receive a digital license for the game, so they can play without relying on the disc afterward.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social