Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says a future without physical discs is “depressing but solvable.”
Soon after Sony’s announcement that it would end physical disc production for PlayStation games, a report out of Austria was interpreted as Sony ending all but 10% of its production. However, speaking to Game, a Sony DADC spokesperson explains, “To clarify and avoid any misleading information: in that statement Dietmar anticipated an overall product volume decline by 10 percent, not a decline down to 10 percent.” So while there’s still a reduction, it’s not as large as was reported.
Game also spoke to former chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, who led PlayStation for several years. Layden described a future without PlayStation discs as “depressing, but solvable,” or at least “I think”
At the moment, Sony owns the process for pressing PlayStation discs, meaning that once Sony stops manufacturing them, PlayStation discs will be discontinued. However, some companies have expressed interest in continuing to release physical copies, with CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski promising The Witcher 4 will have a physical release, even if having a disc isn’t possible.
As for developers potentially having the option to release disc versions of their PlayStation games, Layden explains, “unless they decide or determine a way to license that to some of these bespoke disc manufacturers, there’s no way to make it happen”.
Microsoft currently licenses the production of Xbox discs to external plants via manufacturers it certifies as “authorized replicators.”
Layden says, “I believe that physical media is crucial and important. One of the things that makes us gamers, one of the core game mechanics, going back to the beginning of time, is collecting stuff.”
He adds, “This was a core thing to the experience of our most devoted fans,” and that “the market has said they will continue to buy them. You’re just saying you just don’t want to make them anymore.”