EU won't stop Sony killing physical games — commissioner says companies are free to go all-digital

The EU has no power to stop Sony from ending physical disc production for new PlayStation games, according to European Commissioner for consumer protection Michael McGrath. Speaking to reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, McGrath made clear that Brussels can't intervene in Sony's decision to stop manufacturing Blu-ray discs for new titles from January 2028 onwards.

McGrath's exact words: "It does come down to commercial and contractual freedoms, and companies are free to offer games and services in the manner that they see fit, provided that consumer rights are fully protected in line with national and EU law." He also referenced the Stop Killing Games movement, which suffered its own setback last month when the European Commission said it couldn't legally require publishers to keep games playable after commercial support ends — citing existing intellectual property rights under EU copyright law. The Commission did say it would work with the games industry and consumer groups to develop a voluntary code of conduct around game preservation and end-of-life management.

Sony announced earlier this month that all new PlayStation games releasing from 2028 will be digital-only, with no new Blu-ray discs printed. The decision has triggered a wave of backlash — a petition calling on Sony to reverse course is approaching 300,000 signatures, and PS5 users have been posting screenshots of cancelled PlayStation Plus subscriptions on social media. But industry analysts are blunt about the chances of a reversal. Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy Kantan Games, told IGN that even 500,000 cancelled PS Plus subscriptions would represent just 1% of Sony's roughly 50 million subscribers — nowhere near enough to move the needle. "I sympathize with physical media fans, but Sony will not reverse this decision," Toto said. "They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass."

With the EU sidelined and analysts dismissing the petition as symbolic, Sony's all-digital roadmap looks locked in. The shift is financially motivated — going digital on first-party titles lets Sony capture a larger cut of every sale at a time when console hardware costs are rising and unit sales are expected to soften. The backlash may be loud, but there's no regulatory or commercial pressure on the horizon that looks capable of changing Sony's mind.