Recently, former President of SIE Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden shared his views in an interview on PlayStation's impending shift toward a disc-less future. He believes the situation is disheartening but not unsolvable.
Previously, some media outlets misinterpreted news from an Austrian plant, claiming that Sony's disc output would plummet to just 10% of its original volume. Sony DADC later clarified that overall production would decrease by 10%, not that capacity would be reduced to one-tenth. After 2028, older games released before January 2028 will still support reprinting and restocking, but no new titles will receive physical disc pressings.
Currently, PlayStation disc manufacturing is entirely controlled by Sony. Once Sony officially halts production, third-party publishers won't have the authority to produce PS game discs on their own. Layden proposes a solution: Sony could follow Microsoft's model and license disc production to compliant third-party pressing plants, thereby preserving the possibility of physical releases. Microsoft currently authorizes "licensed replication vendors" to handle Xbox physical disc production at external factories.
Layden emphasized that physical media holds irreplaceable value for core gamers, as collecting is itself part of the gaming cultural experience. He said, "The market has proven through actual purchasing behavior that there are still players willing to buy physical editions. It's just that Sony itself no longer wants to continue production."
CDPR's co-CEO previously stated that even if Sony no longer provides disc pressing services, The Witcher 4 still plans to release a physical edition. However, whether this vision can be realized depends on securing licensing for PS disc production. Layden also acknowledged that this is ultimately a corporate business decision; if Sony does not open up licensing, third-party publishers will have no way to independently release physical PS game discs.