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It’s Official: The PlayStation Blackout Protest Did Nothing
Sony’s second-quarter results suggest that the PlayStation Digital Blackout, held from 23 to 30 August, did not measurably hurt the company. The protest followed Sony’s plan to stop producing discs in January 2028, with participants pledging to avoid purchases and PlayStation Plus renewals; the figures show digital sales and user activity rose instead.
Compared with the previous quarter, monthly active users increased by 2 million and digital sales rose by ¥138.8 billion, or ¥158.7 billion including add-ons. The article says Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine sold 2.4 million units, while a launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 later in the fiscal year could further lift digital sales. The figures indicate no short-term business impact from the protest, though they do not settle concerns about the move away from physical games.
In short
- PlayStation activity and digital sales rose after the August boycott.
- Monthly active users increased by 2 million quarter on quarter.
- The protest followed Sony’s plan to end disc production in 2028.
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The case for
The results suggest the blackout did not cause a measurable short-term hit: monthly active users and digital sales rose compared with the previous quarter. A week-long boycott may also have been too brief or limited to register against wider activity, so the figures support the view that it had little immediate commercial effect.
The case against
Quarter-to-quarter growth does not show what sales or activity would have been without the protest, and other releases or seasonal factors may have outweighed any losses. The figures therefore cannot establish that the blackout had no effect, nor do they address players’ longer-term concerns about losing access to physical games.