Sony reveals that physical software only accounted for 3% of PlayStation sales in the last year, only further fuelling the fire that the PS6 will continue the embrace of digital gaming

• PlayStation maker Sony has confirmed that physical media makes up just 3% of its gaming revenue
• PS5 models no longer launch with a disc drive
• PlayStation 6 has been rumored to be all digital when it launches

The subject of game preservation has been at the forefront of people’s minds with the advent of Nintendo Switch 2 Game Key Cards, following on from digital-only Xbox and PC releases. However, to its credit, Sony^[1] has tried to keep physical PS5^[2] games on store shelves.

Still, that could be set to change with the company’s latest corporate report^[3] suggesting that PS5 disc sales make up just 3% of Sony’s overall gaming revenue.

As reported by Eurogamer^[4], that figure was twice as much (6%) in 2020 – the same year the PS5 arrived, with a disc drive included.

In the years since, Sony has not only slimmed down the PS5^[5] by removing the disc drive, but has released the PS5 Pro^[6] sans disc drive, too.

It’s a little ‘chicken and egg’, then – did the PS5 getting slimmer stop players buying physical games, or did they stop buying them before Sony removed the disc drive?

In any case, the end result is the same, with the sale of physical media making up a very small proportion of its revenue. Given rumors that the PlayStation 6^[7] could arrive without a disc drive, it doesn’t appear that Sony is ready to change that narrative, either.

Digital software accounts for 20% of Sony’s gaming revenue, and it’s not hard to imagine the other major console manufacturers are seeing similar patterns.

We reported yesterday^[8] that another big third-party title was making its way to Switch 2 on a Game Key card because its cartridges cap out at 64GB capacity, while Microsoft^[9] has long been putting digital codes in boxes, even for its first-party titles.

While having a digital version of a game might not seem like a huge difference at present, by the time newer consoles are here, it’ll likely be harder to access games you purchased on PS5. We’re already seeing the challenges of live service games shutting down and even their disc versions being rendered useless, and some of those kicked off just last generation.

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