Sony's latest State of Play presentation, which was supposed to be a showcase of new PlayStation titles, unexpectedly turned into a massive player protest. From start to finish, the comment sections on YouTube and Twitch were completely dominated by two repeated slogans: "NO DISC NO PURCHASE" and "WE WANT DESTINY 3," turning the official broadcast into a public outcry.
This "comment storm" was essentially a direct confrontation between Sony and its player base over two public relations crises.
Sony previously announced that it would completely cease physical game distribution for PlayStation starting January 2028, offering all new titles exclusively in digital format. This decision quickly ignited player anger, but Sony remains firm, showing no intention of backing down despite immense pressure.
To make matters worse, Sony is dealing with a class-action lawsuit over digital game ownership. The company's defense argues that "reasonable consumers" should understand that purchasing digital games grants a license, not ownership. While this argument may hold up legally, it essentially tells players who have spent thousands of dollars building digital libraries, "You don't actually own anything."
Meanwhile, Destiny players are equally furious. Content updates for Destiny 2 have ceased, and Bungie is undergoing significant layoffs. Even though player counts briefly rebounded after the announcement of halted updates, Bungie seems focused on its troubled project, Marathon. This situation has led the community to strongly demand the development of Destiny 3, though it is nearly impossible in the short term.
As a result, the entire State of Play became a major debacle for Sony—even when official announcements covered third-party games unrelated to Sony, the comment sections were completely overwhelmed by protests.
Anger on social media has not subsided since Sony announced it would abandon physical discs. Although industry data shows that digital purchases dominate the market, the intensity of this protest demonstrates that players' anxiety over losing control of physical games is far more severe than Sony imagined.