- Circana’s Matt Piscatella says the PlayStation blackout resulted in absolutely nothing.
- The firm recorded no significant drop in players or engagement numbers at all.
- Unfortunately, the all-digital future starting from 2028 now seems inevitable.
Fans have been furious since PlayStation announced that it’s getting rid of discs. This led to a petition that garnered thousands of signatures, but ultimately ended up having no impact. Additionally, fans also planned a PS5 blackout as well.
The blackout was supposed to kick off on August 23 for a week. However, an analyst has revealed that it had no impact on player engagement at all, and the platform still saw almost the same engagement.
Why it matters: Even before this happened, experts and fans predicted that this boycott wouldn’t lead to anything. The only way the company is going to be bothered is if players vote with their wallets and go against digital games.
No. There was no significant change at all in player count or engagement in our tracking.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-09-14T14:28:48.658Z
Circana’s Matt Piscatella was recently asked whether the PlayStation blackout had any impact. He said that there was no significant change at all in the player count or the general engagement in their tracking.
It should be noted that Circana only tracks US numbers, so these could be specific. But going through forums and social media, you can see that the trend has been the same, and most people opted out of this.
Anyhow, it doesn’t seem like anything will reverse Sony’s decision anymore. The president even defended the decision and said they are trying not to listen to all the noise, so unfortunately we are headed towards an all-digital future.
What are your thoughts on the PlayStation blackout not working at all? Did you expect anything from it? Let us know your opinions in the comments or join the discussion at the official Tech4Gamers Forum.
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News Reporter
Abdullah is an avid gamer who primarily plays single-player titles. If you can’t find him anywhere, he’ll probably be at his desk playing The Witcher 3 for the millionth time. When he isn’t playing games, he’s either reading or writing about them.
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