PlayStation to Keep Printing Pre-2028 Physical Games After 2028 Deadline

PlayStation might be preparing to wind down the era of physical game discs starting in January 2028, but it will still keep producing discs for games that were already out before that deadline.

Following the same general direction Xbox has taken, PlayStation is set to have one of the most contentious shifts in its publishing approach. Beginning in January 2028, the company plans to stop producing game discs and transition its releases to digital-only, effectively ending physical editions as players have known them.

For many fans, this change lands as more than just a convenience problem. It raises concerns about ownership, long-term preservation, and the simple satisfaction of receiving a boxed product. There were also worries that scalpers would take advantage of dwindling disc availability and that physical copies could become scarce well before 2028—though that outcome appears to be less likely than feared.

PlayStation Will Keep Reprinting Games Released Before 2028

At Least They’ve Done One Single Thing Right

After the announcement that it would stop disc manufacturing, PlayStation reportedly sent a specific message to publishers. In that note, Sony stated that publishers will still be able to place re-orders for existing PlayStation disc games. In practical terms, that covers any title released before the start of 2028.

So when will Xbox and Nintendo decide to head down the same digital path?

For players, the key point is that publishers won’t be forced to stop printing discs immediately for older releases. They can continue ordering as needed for games that launched prior to PlayStation’s digital cutover. It’s a small reassurance in the middle of a much bigger shift, but it suggests scalpers won’t suddenly be able to exploit every PlayStation disc title released in the run-up to 2028.

If you were hoping this would make your PS4 and PS5 collections more “valuable” through strict scarcity, the situation doesn’t appear to be trending that way.

PlayStation also indicated that the “ordering process” for discs will change, without providing further specifics. Still, based on what was said in the publisher message, it’s reasonable to expect reprints to be handled on demand. The mention of process changes also hints that the system could be more targeted or specialized than what publishers used before.

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For games arriving after the deadline, Sony says publishers can continue selling at retail using digital codes—commonly referred to as the “code-in-a-box” method, the same approach that GTA 6 has been drawing attention to. If you’re a collector, that may mean buying cases hoping to fill the space where discs used to be. Alternatively, you could choose to skip the purchase as a protest against what many see as an anti-consumer packaging choice.

With costs rising, fewer exclusive incentives, and no actual physical media, the question naturally becomes: why stick around for the next PlayStation console era?