A former executive at Square Enix stated that Sony's decision to completely cease physical media distribution on the PlayStation platform could lead to lower game prices in the PlayStation Store.
Sony officially announced on July 1 that it will cease the distribution of all physical media across the PlayStation platform, including games not published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Starting January 2028, all new titles on PlayStation will be released exclusively in digital format, and boxed activation code products commonly found in retail channels will also be discontinued. This policy applies to all games on the platform, not limited to Sony Interactive Entertainment's first-party titles; third-party games are equally subject to this restriction.
Jacob Navok, former Director of Business Development at Square Enix and current CEO of Genvid Technologies, shared this view on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
His core argument is that "it is competition among publishers, not competition among digital stores, that puts downward pressure on pricing"—in other words, game pricing in digital stores is determined by publishers, not platform holders.
Navok pointed out that this means the competition between Steam and the Epic Games Store mainly affects developers' revenue shares and does not directly change the purchase price for players.
He believes that what truly drives prices down is direct competition between games within the same platform. He also included a chart showing the gradual decline in the Steam price of Final Fantasy XVI over time to demonstrate that this competitive pressure indeed exists.
Specifically regarding the PlayStation platform, Navok predicted: "The higher the degree of pure digitalization in the PlayStation Store, the faster this trend will accelerate."
"There will be more promotions in the future, and dynamic pricing models similar to Steam's will emerge, as competition among publishers intensifies."
It is important to note that game price reductions cannot offset all the negative impacts of this decision. Controversies surrounding digital ownership remain unresolved, and players who prefer physical copies will completely lose their choice. Whether this trade-off benefits players varies from person to person.
For those who previously doubted whether Sony would reverse its decision, it now appears the company will not back down from this controversial move to halt physical game production. Currently, new PS5 consoles with disc drives include a notification informing users that, as previously announced, PlayStation will cease support for physical media in early 2028.