Ex-PlayStation Boss Asks the One Question Sony Doesn't Want You Asking 🕹️

Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has criticized Sony's decision to end production of physical game discs by 2028, telling The Expansion Pass podcast the move amounts to a "heavily spreadsheeted decision" that has inflicted a "significant brand hit" on the company. "It changes the conversation from: do you own a game to do you have access to a digital asset?" Layden said. "If you can't sell a thing, that means you don't own a thing. If you don't own it, what are you buying? If you're buying access, that doesn't sound quite as sexy."

Layden, who served as President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America from 2014 to 2018, made the comments as Sony faces consumer backlash over its disc-less plans and a proposed class action lawsuit in California over digital ownership rights. In court filings reviewed by Game File, Sony has argued that no reasonable consumer believes they own the digital games they purchase through the PlayStation Store, citing the platform's Terms of Service and Software Product License Agreement as making the licensing nature of the transaction clear.

A physical gaming advocacy group has called for an organized boycott of Sony following the July announcement, and a "Don't Kill the Disc" petition has amassed more than 385,000 signatures. Sony has offered no indication it intends to reverse the policy.

Layden noted that although only an estimated 20% of gamers still purchase physical discs, that segment represents the most dedicated portion of the PlayStation user base. "[They are] the people who buy two copies of every game. One never gets out of the shrink wrap, and you play the other one. It's just like comic book collectors," he said. "We are an acquisitive collecting sort of people, and we like to show off our stuff."

Mysten Labs Co-Founder and Chief Cryptographer Kostas Chalkias told Decrypt the fight over digital game ownership remains in its early stages and mirrors longstanding media-access debates. "With media, we're used to renting and streaming, and we're increasingly finding that the things we think we're buying don't actually belong to us," Chalkias said.