Don't Kill the Disc petition hits 170,000 signatures as Sony stays silent on physical media backlash

Canadian indie retailer PNP Games launched a Change.org petition urging Sony to reverse its decision to end physical disc manufacturing by January 2028 — and it has already crossed 170,000 signatures. The backlash has spilled well beyond gaming circles, drawing mockery from KFC, Domino's, and celebrity comedians.

PNP Games CEO Jade Pearce framed the petition around ownership, preservation, and jobs: "Physical games support an entire industry that an all-digital future quietly erases: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, the pre-owned and trade-in market, and the collector and preservation community." The petition also calls out Sony's own 2013 E3 moment, when the company famously mocked competitors for restricting used games and promised players they could trade, sell, lend, or keep their games forever — a promise that now looks hollow. Sony's plan covers all physical media on PlayStation from 2028 onward, not just first-party titles, and retail releases will be limited to code-in-a-box options. Most analysts expect the PS6 to launch without a disc drive as a result.

Sony's official line, delivered by Senior Director Sid Shuman on the PlayStation Blog, is that the move follows "shifting trends in consumer preference" and that digital significantly outpaces physical in how players access games today. Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls backed that up, noting physical has been declining for years — back in 2013, only 13% of full game unit sales on Sony consoles were digital; that ratio has flipped dramatically since. Still, the speed and scale of the backlash suggests Sony underestimated how much the disc still means culturally, even to players who mostly buy digitally. Disc manufacturing facilities are already reportedly retooling for other products, which makes a reversal look increasingly unlikely.

Sony has not officially acknowledged the petition or responded to the community reaction. The official PlayStation account on X went dark for nearly a week after the announcement, breaking its silence only with an unrelated FlexStrike fight stick post. Signatories are threatening to skip the PS6 entirely and migrate to PC if the all-digital course holds — and with the petition still climbing, the pressure on Sony to at least say something is only growing.