Last week, Sony dropped an explosive news on PlayStation gamers: no more PlayStation discs will be produced from January 2028, thus essentially confining even the retail market to a digital-only future (physical copies will include a download code, just like GTA VI).
This inevitably triggered a massive backlash on the Internet, with fans whipping up petitions to get Sony to change their mind and legendary game designer Hideo Kojima sharing his sadness at the news. But that's not the only kind of reaction Sony needs to deal with.
The Japanese corporation is already defending itself in courts of law around the world over its monopoly on the PlayStation Store. In the US, a class-action settlement over allegedly inflated digital game prices won preliminary approval this spring, though a judge had previously rejected an earlier version of the deal. In the UK, a £2 billion lawsuit dubbed "PlayStation You Owe Us" brought by consumer advocate Alex Neill is now being fought in London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, with Sony arguing that its pricing reflects costs and the value of its platform.
And in the Netherlands, the fight has just begun: after the first hearing a few days ago, Stichting Massaschade & Consument is pressing ahead with the Fair PlayStation case on behalf of around 1.7 million Dutch players, seeking more than €400 million in damages over the so-called “Sony tax.”
We reached out to the Dutch non-profit, which brings collective claims on behalf of consumers and small businesses in mass-damage cases, for a comment. Here's what Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument, had to say in an exclusive statement to Wccftech:
The end of physical discs removes the last place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price. No discs means no second-hand market and no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it. That is exactly the harm our Fair PlayStation claim is about: a price can never be fair when the buyer is left with no ownership and no alternative.
Sony's move to phase out discs has only sharpened the broader fight over how PlayStation games are sold, priced, and owned. Between backlash over the scheduled end of physical media and legal challenges in the US, UK, and the Netherlands, the company is facing pressure not just from frustrated players but also from courts, consumer groups, and regulators questioning just how much control one platform should have over an entire market.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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