The announced end to physical PlayStation games has caused great discontent within the community. An organised boycott was intended to make Sony feel the consequences – but it appears to have had no real impact.
Sony and its community: when it comes to the PlayStation, relations are currently at breaking point. With a string of decisions, the Japanese company is increasingly falling out with its fans. The final straw: from 2028, games are no longer to be released in physical form. The end of the disc tradition on the PlayStation.
Users not only vented their frustration publicly, but also called for action. Alongside a petition and calls to cancel PlayStation Plus, a planned blackout was also organised. Between 23 and 30 August, as many users as possible were urged to stop using all PlayStation services. This naturally raises the question: did it have any impact?
According to Mat Piscatella of the market research firm Circana, the answer is no. In a recently published Bluesky post on the top 10 titles in the US by weekly active users, the analyst was asked about this: “In our surveys, there were no significant changes in player numbers or user activity,” he wrote. Piscatella regularly analyses data relating to console sales and user engagement in the US market.
The timing during gamescom 2026 – a shortcoming?
Whilst there were many supporters of the blackout, criticism was also voiced. Some criticised the fact that the campaign was limited to a fixed period. Many speculated that this limited timeframe made the protest more likely to fail. Furthermore, the protest coincided with gamescom 2026, a period when many gamers were not playing on their consoles anyway.
Incidentally: Alongside the announcement at the time of the end of disc sales, Sony is parting ways with another piece of PlayStation history. The company is gradually phasing out the PlayStation Store for the PS3 and PS Vita. In some regions, the shutdown will begin as early as 2026; in Germany, it will take place in July 2027.
