- Gamers from 62% of countries without PlayStation Store access will have no way to buy PS6 games.
- As discs will no longer be an alternative, the digital-exclusive PS6 will lock players out of the PlayStation ecosystem.
- Unofficial ways to access the PlayStation Store exist, but Sony may retaliate as more players use them.
The death of Sony discs will have a devastating impact on the gaming scene, whether it’s the game preservation efforts or the argument of ‘owning’ your games over licenses. This dilemma will also push other publishers to cancel their own physical versions of games.
However, a lack of discs will damage the PlayStation ecosystem way worse than one might imagine at first thought.
Currently, 62% of the world’s countries don’t have official access to the PlayStation Store, and cancelling physical media means they won’t have any official alternatives to buy games on a digital-only PS6.
In other words, these players from 121 countries will essentially be locked out of the PlayStation ecosystem after physical media dies down.
Why it matters: After discs become unavailable, Sony will lose a sizeable amount of audience if players from 121 countries no longer have any official way to purchase games with an inaccessible PlayStation Store.
there’s no playstation store in georgia, which will make georgians unable to buy videogames after 2028.
byu/bldngtrpdr inPS5
This discussion began after u/bldngtrpdr on the r/PS5 subreddit argued that Georgians will be unable to buy games on PS6 starting in 2028 since the PlayStation Store is inaccessible there.
Currently, players purchase physical copies of titles they want to play, but that option will soon be unavailable. Sony is cutting down official access to its gaming ecosystem for 62% of countries by shutting down the physical market.
Other countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Estonia, Venezuela, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Jamaica, and Vietnam—all with a huge presence of PlayStation users—will also lose access to the ecosystem with a digital-only PS6.
There are unofficial ways to purchase games in these countries with no PlayStation Store access. You can essentially set your console account region to another country to access digital titles and online services.
However, users fear Sony could start retaliating against this method over the years, especially once a flood of users begins relying on it after physical media dies.
Do you think Sony will provide an official solution for this problem? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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