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Disgaea creator and former Nippon Ichi Software CEO Sohei Niikawa has criticized Sony’s decision to ditch physical games, and said that the executives responsible didn’t “understand the feelings” of impacted fans.
Earlier this month, Sony announced that from January 2028 onwards it will no longer produce disc releases of new games. This decision triggered huge backlash online, with fans even expressing their anger at Sony in the comments on trailers for upcoming third party games.
Noisy Pixel interviewed Niikawa at Anime Expo 2026, where he was promoting his upcoming game, Demons’ Night Fever, which describes itself as a speedrun-training simulation RPG. He also gave his opinion on Sony’s move to ditch physical disc releases.
“From a purely business perspective, I can understand why the people at Sony would make that decision.” said Niikawa, who was CEO of Nippon Ichi Software between 2009 to 2022. “However, the executives who decided it have probably never experienced coming to an event like Anime Expo and having someone approach them with a physical game to ask for an autograph. I don’t think they understand the feelings of those fans, and they may never have considered what physical editions mean to the people who value them.”
Nikawa then added that “If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too. A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you’re going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way.”
Sony’s digital game sales have been on the rise for years, far outselling physical releases. For example, just 7 PlayStation games have sold more than 100,000 physical copies in the US so far this year. Sony have framed their decision to stop releasing discs as following current PS4 and PS5 owners’ behavior. In the announcement on the official PlayStation blog, Sony framed phasing out discs as “a natural direction” for Sony as the company is adapting “to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.”
Despite this trend, the backlash shows that physical media, especially the act of owning a game on a disc, is still very important to many. As Niikawa referenced, there is the importance of having something physical to put on your shelf. However, a disc-less box with a download code inside just doesn’t cut it for many, as shown by the backlash to GTA6’s physical release.
From conservationists’ point of view, games getting a disc release that only contains part of the game (see 007: First Light for a recent example) or which require a patch download to function properly has been a growing issue in both the PS4 and PS5 generations. This calls into question whether there is any value at all in having a physical game that can’t even be played without a download from a server.
Others in the Japanese game industry have also weighed in on Sony’s decision, with many raising concerns about the risks to game ownership and preservation in a digital-only future. Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima expressed concern about how access to digital content can easily be withdrawn, removing the purchaser’s ability to own and use it when they wish. More recently, Kojima said of Sony’s decision that “I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad.” Nier creator Yoko Taro also echoed these sentiments in a recent tweet where he urged people to buy physical game releases while they still can.
Sony’s statements point clearly to games being digital only on the upcoming PS6, which is likely to be some kind of hybrid console/handheld, if comments from Sony CEO Nishino are anything to go by. It’s still unclear whether Sony will offer some kind of disc drive add-on that will enable gamers to play their discs from previous generations, or whether physical game collectors will just have to stick with older hardware.
Going forward, it seems that true physical games (where everything is actually in the box and ready to play) could become a niche, expensive product, only released in limited quantities by companies like Super Rare and Limited Run, who have a long track record of re-releasing physical games on various platforms.
This week, it was claimed that Sony knew its decision to kill PlayStation 5 discs would spark outrage, and reportedly has issued staff with the “strictest” social media guidelines to stop them from publicly commenting on the controversy.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
