Sony's announcement to phase out physical media discs by 2028 has triggered substantial backlash from consumers and developers, becoming a significant public relations problem for the company. This matters because eliminating physical gaming could give Sony excessive control over the market, particularly given its ownership of Blu-ray technology, and could constitute anti-competitive behaviour under investigation by courts worldwide.

PlayStation has begun surveying developers to gather feedback on the disc phase-out plan. Kenzo Saruhashi, chief executive of Nippon Ichi Software, has indicated that Sony is "hearing a lot of feedback from customers" and may change course, with physical release boxes containing game codes emerging as one possible compromise. The company remains in ongoing discussions with PlayStation about its future strategy.