Former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios CEO Shawn Layden has said Sony can’t get away with launching the PlayStation 6 console as an all digital, disc-less console.
Layden told Kiwi Talkz that, while Xbox has found success in that regard, PlayStation has such a large market share that it would be shutting out too many people by removing physical and offline games from its library.
“I don’t think Sony can get away with it now,” Layden said. “I think Xbox has had more success in pursuing that strategy, but Xbox is really most successful in their business in a clutch of countries: the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Coincidentally enough all English speaking countries.
“Sony, which is the number one platform in probably 170 countries around the world, has an obligation or a responsibility to say, ‘If we go discless, how much of my market is not able to make that jump? Can users in rural Italy get a decent connection to enjoy games?'”
Layden gave further examples of parts of the market that rely on physical or offline games, such as travelling athletes or military bases, but said PlayStation is likely already investigating how many of those groups it’s willing to move away from.
“Which part of your market will be damaged by going to disc-less market?” Layden asked. “I’m sure they’re doing their research on it. And there will be a tipping point, where there’s some percentage where you can say, ‘Okay that’s fine, we can turn our back on that part of the market.’ But Sony’s market is globally so huge, I think it would be hard for them to go fully disc-less, even with the next generation.”
This conversation has been ongoing in the video game industry since the PlayStation 4 generation but was ramped up, as Layden noted, by the release of digital only consoles on the Xbox side. Both hardware titans released digital only versions of the current PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, but Sony has resisted going all in.
This is because even its digital consoles, including the $700 PlayStation 5 Pro, can both be upgraded with a separate disc drive to run physical games as normal. With Xbox already having gone all in with the likes of Game Pass, however, and Sony following suit with the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog, many have questioned how long it will be before disc-based games are phased out completely.
This comes as sales of physical media, including games, continue to dwindle, and many major publishers are even shipping games in unplayable states without an internet connection, even on disc. The Japan-set Assassin’s Creed Shadows from Ubisoft requires an internet connection to install, for example, while EA released Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in a similar state.
With actual discs becoming less of a priority, what would once be included as a second disc (with an install disc and a play disc) is now essentially added as downloadable content.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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