Sony has announced plans to discontinue the production of physical game discs for its PlayStation consoles starting in 2028. This decision marks a significant shift toward digital-only gaming, a trend that has raised concerns among experts regarding the long-term preservation of video game history.
John Hardie, the director of the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, described the move as primarily driven by profit motives. He noted that the industry has been trending in this direction for several years, but the final step away from physical media presents new challenges for historians and archivists.
Hardie emphasized that the loss of physical copies creates a vulnerability for gaming heritage. He explained that without a tangible disc to store and protect, a game exists only on the specific console where it was installed. If that hardware fails or becomes obsolete, the software may be lost forever.
"On the preservation side, it's a real problem we've been dealing with for years," Hardie said. "Without any physical media, once the game goes away, it's gone and only preserved on someone's console."
This reliance on digital infrastructure means that museums and preservationists must depend on the actions of game publishers. Hardie stated that these institutions are now at the mercy of publishers to ensure they maintain and care for their game code over time. He warned that without physical backups, some titles could simply vanish from historical records entirely.
