Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida has weighed in on Sony’s reported move away from physical game discs, admitting that he isn’t convinced losing discs will be a major problem for most players.

Sony’s plans to stop producing physical PlayStation game discs in 2028 have generated plenty of debate across the gaming community. While collectors and physical media advocates have raised concerns over ownership, preservation, and the second-hand market, others believe the industry’s transition toward digital distribution is inevitable.

Yoshida now finds himself closer to the latter group, revealing that he personally abandoned physical media some time ago.

Shuhei Yoshida Says He Is “Totally a Digital Consumer”

Speaking in an interview with GamerBraves, Yoshida revealed that he wasn’t aware Sony was planning to move away from physical discs.

However, from his own perspective as a player, the change wouldn’t have much of an impact.

Yoshida described himself as “totally a digital consumer,” explaining that he doesn’t enjoy managing physical games or swapping discs whenever he wants to play something different.

Instead, he prefers having his entire collection immediately accessible from the console dashboard.

“I’m totally a digital consumer. I don’t want to manage or swap discs.”

For Yoshida, being able to select a game directly from the PlayStation dashboard is simply more convenient.

He does acknowledge that the situation is considerably different for collectors.

Yoshida Understands Why Collectors Want Physical Games

While Yoshida personally prefers digital games, he understands why the disappearance of physical media could disappoint players who have spent years building collections.

He specifically mentioned collectors with “walls full of physical packages,” admitting it would be a shame if traditional physical games were no longer available.

However, Yoshida believes publishers could continue producing physical packages containing download vouchers rather than actual game discs.

That might preserve the boxed-game collecting experience to some extent, although it obviously wouldn’t provide the same benefits as owning the game itself on physical media.

Modern Games Already Depend Heavily on Downloads

Yoshida also questioned how valuable physical discs remain when modern games frequently require substantial downloads regardless.

Developers continually release patches, additional content, DLC, and other updates after launch, meaning owning a disc doesn’t necessarily provide a completely offline or self-contained version of a modern game.

“Even if you have a physical version of the game, you will still need to download new patches, DLC, or updates. So, not having a disc, I don’t understand if it’s such a big issue.”

It’s an argument that has become increasingly relevant as games grow larger and post-launch updates become a standard part of development.

However, Yoshida acknowledged one area where abandoning discs could create a more significant problem: second-hand games.

Losing Discs Could Hurt the Used Games Market

Physical games allow players to buy, sell, lend, and trade their copies independently of digital storefronts.

Yoshida acknowledged that players who regularly purchase second-hand games could therefore be negatively affected by PlayStation moving away from discs.

Without physical copies, consumers would become significantly more dependent on publisher-controlled digital pricing.

Yoshida pointed out that publishers have complete control over digital prices but argued that frequent promotions could help compensate for the disappearance of cheaper second-hand copies.

“The digital price point can be anything. Publishers can choose whatever price they want for a digital game.”

Players could therefore wait for digital sales rather than purchasing games at full price, with publishers regularly offering discounts throughout the year.

Still, digital discounts don’t provide the same freedom as a traditional second-hand market, making this one of the biggest questions surrounding an all-digital future.

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PlayStation’s Digital Future Continues to Divide Players

Yoshida’s comments arrive as the gaming industry continues moving steadily toward digital distribution.

For players who already purchase almost everything digitally, removing physical discs might make relatively little difference.

For collectors, preservation enthusiasts, players with limited internet access, and those who regularly buy or sell used games, however, the transition could have much larger consequences.

Yoshida clearly prefers the convenience of digital gaming, but even he acknowledges that PlayStation abandoning discs won’t affect every type of player equally.

Would losing physical PlayStation games bother you, or have you already moved completely to digital? Let us know in the comments below.