The former head of Square Enix believes that Sony’s decision to stop releasing physical editions for PlayStation will lead to lower prices in the digital store. The argument is based on the fact that competition for the player’s wallet is not between marketplaces, but between the publishers themselves. It should be recalled that on July 1, Sony announced the complete cessation of support for physical media on PlayStation. Starting in January 2028, all releases on the platform will be exclusively digital, including titles from third‑party publishers, not just products from Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retail versions with a code in the box will also be banned, meaning there will be no longer be the usual alternative to discs in stores. It is this point that has caused the greatest dissatisfaction among the audience, which is used to reselling and collecting publications.

Jacob Navok, who previously held the position of business development director at Square Enix and now heads the Genvid company, shared his position. According to him, it is the publishers, not the store owners, who determine pricing in digital stores. Competition between publishers creates pressure on prices, not competition between different digital stores. This leads to the conclusion about competition between Steam and the Epic Games Store. According to Navock, this competition primarily affects the share of revenue that remains with the developers, rather than the final price for the customer. A real reduction in cost begins when a game directly competes for the user’s attention with other titles on the same store. Navok cited the price chart for Final Fantasy 16 on Steam as an example, where the cost gradually decreased over time.

When applied to Sony’s console, the logic is exactly the same. The fewer retail channels remain, the more publishers are forced to compete with each other right inside the store. According to the expert, the more the PlayStation Store becomes purely digital, the faster this trend will accelerate. Users will see more sales and dynamic pricing similar to the Steam model, because publishers will be competing with each other to a greater extent. At the same time, lower prices do not resolve the other issues related to moving away from discs. We are talking about the rights to digital copies, the impossibility of resale, and the lack of a physical version for those who fundamentally need it. According to Sony’s latest statements, the company does not intend to change its plan, even if a vocal minority objects. The boxes of the new PS5 consoles with a disc drive already feature a notice stating that the release of new games on physical media will cease at the beginning of 2028.