Ken Kutaragi, the engineer known as the 'Father of the PlayStation,' has expressed understanding for player frustration over Sony's plan to stop producing physical PS5 discs, but argues the shift is economically necessary. Speaking at the Game Republic New Horizons conference in Middlesbrough, England, Kutaragi compared modern consoles to smartphones, noting that most users now expect digital-only access and trust their content to remain available. He acknowledged that physical discs have become symbolic of game ownership, calling the resistance a 'mentality issue.' Kutaragi, who left Sony in 2007 and now runs his own companies, emphasized this is his personal view, not Sony's official stance.
He predicted the end of physical media as early as 2006, foreseeing digital distribution rendering discs obsolete. Sony announced in July it will cease disc production by January 2028, citing digital dominance — 82% of PS4 and PS5 game sales were digital in Q2 2024. Physical software accounted for less than 4% of Sony's ¥526.6 billion game revenue.
CFO Lin Tao stated the company will proceed cautiously despite backlash, including a petition with over 352,000 signatures. Kutaragi joins former executives Shuhei Yoshida and Shawn Layden in commenting on the debate, with Yoshida supporting the digital shift and Layden calling a disc-free console 'depressing, but solvable' through third-party licensing. Meanwhile, Representative Ritchie Torres introduced the Power to the Players Act, aiming to legally define purchased games as owned, not licensed, and require offline modes for online games.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing