Despite outrage at Sony's shift towards a discless future, only seven PlayStation games have managed more than 100,000 physical sales in the US this year - Eurogamer.net

What the report says

Eurogamer reports that new U.S. retail sales data helps explain the business backdrop to Sony’s planned move away from physical PlayStation game discs. Citing Circana analyst Mat Piscatella and the company’s Retail Tracking Service, the article says only two PlayStation titles sold more than 10,000 physical copies in the U.S. during the week ending July 11.

The longer-term figure cited is also limited: according to Eurogamer’s account of Piscatella’s data, just seven PlayStation games have surpassed 100,000 physical units sold in the U.S. so far this year, measured from Jan. 1 to the time of the report. Eurogamer notes that the U.S. is only one market, but a major one for video game spending, making its consumer trends significant for publishers and platform holders.

The figures come amid online criticism of Sony’s stated plan to stop producing physical discs in January 2028. Eurogamer says the backlash has spread beyond Sony’s own channels to social media posts by PlayStation developers, including discussion around Insomniac’s upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine, even though that game is described as receiving a disc release.

Eurogamer frames the debate as a clash between business incentives and consumer concerns. The article says industry observers have pointed to the financial logic of digital distribution while also warning about implications for ownership, access and consumer rights. It adds that Sony has not indicated any retreat from the plan, and that regulators such as the European Union appear unlikely to force the company to keep selling games in a physical format.