Sony’s 2028 Disc Ban Sparks Question as Steam Pulls Far Ahead in Users
Sony’s decision to stop producing game discs for PlayStation systems starting in 2028 has sparked a familiar question: what’s the point of consoles anymore? The pitch used to be simple—cheap hardware, easy setup, and instant access. You connected a PlayStation to your TV, popped in a disc, and you were playing. But the modern picture looks very different: next-gen systems are expected to run at $1,000+, games increasingly rely on digital licenses that can be altered or withdrawn, and downloads can be massive. On top of that, the PS6 era may tighten pricing power by squeezing out the second-hand and physical markets for new releases.
PC is admittedly more complicated to get into, and it isn’t always cheaper up front—but its ecosystem is open enough that multiple storefronts and services compete for your attention. The Epic Games Store tries to cut into Steam’s dominance with regular giveaways, while other platforms lean on frequent sales to pressure prices downward. GOG adds another angle by selling DRM-free games, which helps keep older purchases accessible in the long run. If the PS6 future removes discs entirely, that leaves players more exposed to Sony’s policies—so it’s easy to see why many have looked toward PC instead. In fact, Steam appears to be pulling ahead.
Valve doesn’t commonly publish the total number of active Steam users, but analysts can estimate it from other indicators. A reasonable back-of-the-envelope figure suggests Steam hit about 198 million monthly active users in 2025. For comparison, PlayStation Network—covering PS4, PS5, and some PC players—reported 125 million MAU at the end of March 2026. On that math, Steam (and therefore PC) would hold roughly a 60 percent edge over the largest console ecosystem.
How Analysts Estimated Steam’s Monthly Active Users
One approach begins with a legal document that’s publicly accessible in the European Union: Steam’s Digital Services Act listing. Using that material, analysts identified 31.1 million monthly active users in the EU during H2 2025.
From there, they matched that EU MAU estimate against Steam’s own bandwidth breakdown. That chart indicates Western Europe and Eastern Europe together account for 19.2 percent of Steam’s worldwide bandwidth. Then they removed non-EU regions such as the UK and Norway, which lowers the share to 15.7 percent.
With the EU MAU figure (31.1 million) tied to the adjusted bandwidth share (15.7 percent), the estimate extrapolates to about 198 million monthly active users for Steam in H2 2025. The estimate also lines up with another public signal: concurrent Steam user counts that reportedly peaked around 40 million in H2 2025. If you project that trend forward, it implies roughly 210 million monthly active users by the end of the year—an advantage of nearly 75 million MAU over PlayStation.
Why This Shift Matters for Players
Beyond user counts, PC is also showing stronger financial momentum. Revenue on PC grew by 12 percent year over year, while console revenue rose only 2.8 percent.
With more gamers looking to PC as a way out of a console market that’s increasingly rocky—and with the looming expectation of $1,000+ next-gen hardware—this gap could widen over the next few years. And given how much goodwill has been strained by both Xbox and PlayStation in the current climate, it’s understandable that a growing number of players are choosing to make the move.
