Sony has reportedly issued its "strictest ever" internal social media guidelines to staff following the huge backlash over its decision to end PS5 physical disc manufacturing by January 2028. According to former Santa Monica Studio writer Alanah Pearce, Sony anticipated the scale of the negative reaction and told employees to stay silent publicly rather than respond, leaving the controversy to continue unaddressed across its official channels.

Pearce, who worked on God of War: Laufey, said staff across PlayStation's first-party studios described these guidelines as tighter than anything previously issued, including restrictions typically imposed around game announcements. She noted that Sony's continued silence, combined with reports that its disc-manufacturing facility in Austria is being repurposed for microlens production used in AI data centres, suggests the company has no intention of reversing the decision despite ongoing criticism and Community Notes appearing on its social media posts.