While the gaming industry isn’t all-digital yet, it’s been heading in that direction for a while. Sony’s recently announced plans to discontinue PlayStation discs in 2028 are the latest step in this shift. In the last several years, we’ve also seen the PS5 Pro require a separate purchase for a disc drive, the Xbox Series S lacking disc support and Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards that don’t contain any actual data.

While digital releases have lots of advantages, physical media is still important. As gaming companies push us into their vision for the future, you should know what this entails—especially as the options for physical purchases become fewer. No matter which format you prefer, it’s a shift you should be aware of.

This primarily applies to console gaming, since the PC ecosystem has been effectively digital-only for a long time. However, there are key differences between the two, as we’ll see later.

Your library going digital comes with real perks. One of the most immediate is not having to switch discs or cartridges to play different titles. It’s annoying to get up and swap the disc between your current single-player adventure and a multiplayer shooter you play with friends, for instance. And carrying cartridges around with your Switch 2 adds extra bulk to your suitcase or backpack. Similarly, a lack of physical media means your collection doesn’t take up space on your shelf. There’s also no chance of them being damaged or misplaced.

Digital games allow you to “gameshare,” which means sharing your entire library with a friend. On Xbox and PlayStation, this involves each of you setting the other person’s console to their “home system” so you can play what they’ve purchased using your own account. On Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, you can lend virtual game cards to family members in your Nintendo account instead.

The convenience of digital releases extends to the purchasing process. You can buy anything from the console’s online store and start playing as soon as it downloads. There’s no worry of your delivery being delayed or having to pay extra for shipping. While these are all positives, it’s important to note that these advantages have been inherent to digital games for years and aren’t amplified by the industry phasing out physical titles.

Removing physical copies from circulation eliminates secondhand markets. When you’re done, you can sell your copy, lend it to a friend, or trade it in for store credit. Without physical releases, the entire business model of rental services like GameFly falls apart, as does renting from a library. Aside from gamesharing, we lose all these possibilities when digital is the only option. What’s more, publishers and the companies that control online storefronts have full control of pricing. Physical offers far more flexibility since any retailer can sell them; you’ll regularly see boxed games on sale for lower than digital prices (especially once they’ve been out for a while).

On Switch and Switch 2, digital downloads take up more storage space, since cartridges (excluding game-key cards) have the full game on them. This isn’t relevant on PlayStation and Xbox; loading files from discs would be way too slow, so the discs instead act as a key to confirm you own the game. However, PS and Xbox discs are more convenient for people with slow internet speeds. Inserting a disc copies the data to your system’s storage, and while most games have day-one updates with bug fixes, downloading those doesn’t take as long as the full game.

Another often-overlooked concern is how console refund policies are terrible. PlayStation only grants refunds if you didn’t start the download, while Nintendo declares all payments are final. Xbox’s refund policy is more generous, though vague. You may be able to get a refund if you ask within two weeks of purchase, as long as you “haven’t accumulated a significant amount of play time.” Compare that to Steam’s refund policy of granting refunds for any reason as long as you request within two weeks and have less than two hours of playtime. You can still request a refund if your case is outside these parameters.

The above points focus on an individual’s experience, but there are broader concerns in this discussion. It’s important to be aware that when you “buy” a digital game, you’re actually purchasing a license to access the content. That license can be revoked at any time, and for various reasons. One of the most infamous instances is P.T., a “playable teaser” for Silent Hills, which was later canceled. After Sony removed the listing from the PlayStation Store, even those who had added the demo to their accounts could no longer reinstall it (without hacky workarounds).

You don’t have to look far for other examples. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game was removed from the PlayStation and Xbox four years after its 2010 release due to licensing issues, returning much later in 2021. In 2026, Sony announced the removal of more than 500 digital movies in the UK, with those who purchased them having no options for a refund. In 2024, Ubisoft shut down its always-online The Crew and removed people’s licenses, leaving them with no way to play it (and no money back). This ResetEra post collects many other instances, if you’re interested.

These occurrences are exacerbated when digital games are the only choice. It’s extremely frustrating to have something you paid for taken away with no recourse. Game preservation also takes a huge hit from this. Entire titles that were never physically available essentially go extinct when the publisher decides to stop supporting them and removes them from digital storefronts.