Sony issued strictest-ever social media guidelines to first-party staff after disc ban backlash

Sony slapped its first-party studio employees with the tightest social media restrictions they have ever seen, following the massive public backlash to its announcement that all new PlayStation games will go digital-only from January 2028. The claim comes from Alanah Pearce, a former writer at Sony Santa Monica Studio — the God of War developer — who left in 2024.

Pearce laid this out in a YouTube video titled "Everyone is missing the point," saying staff at PlayStation first-party studios told her directly about the guidelines. "Sony had the strictest social media guidelines for this particular thing that they've ever seen issued," she said. She also noted that Sony regularly issues communications guidance to employees — she was under guidelines herself during her time working on God of War: Laufey — but that this instance was categorically more restrictive than anything staff had previously encountered. Her read on why: "They would only have done this if they knew it was going to be an enormous PR issue. This is no surprise to them."

Sony announced on 1st July that physical disc production for all new PlayStation games will end starting January 2028. The decision covers every game releasing on PlayStation — not just Sony-published titles — and includes third-party releases. Even code-in-a-box retail options will be gone. Sony framed it as following shifting consumer preferences toward digital, but the announcement landed badly with players who value physical ownership, game preservation, and the ability to resell or lend games. The scale of the backlash was significant enough that Pearce's video argues no amount of petitions or outrage will reverse the decision — pointing to the strict internal comms lockdown as evidence Sony anticipated and accepted the fallout.

Pearce's framing — that Sony knew exactly what it was doing and prepared accordingly — has resonated with a community already frustrated by the announcement. Whether any organized pushback changes Sony's timeline remains to be seen, but the internal communications clampdown suggests the company is treating this as a settled business decision rather than an open conversation.