- Physical video game revenue reached its lowest point since 2007 last year.
- The medium only brought in around $1.55 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.
- Sales did rebound in 2026 for the first time in 17 years, but the growth was merely 3%.
Most of the gaming world has decided to stand against Sony and show support for physical video games after the company announced it would stop disc production. Players are threatening to abandon PlayStation and cancel their PS Plus subscriptions, while a petition against this move has amassed over 100k signatures.
Even developers and publishers are unhappy with Sony, saying that the move blindsided them completely. However, when you look at how the physical medium has performed recently, the Japanese giant’s decision to go all-digital doesn’t feel too surprising.
Why it matters: For one reason or another, every gamer wants physical video games to stay. But, with the sector only accounting for a fraction of the industry’s overall revenue, this seems impossible.
As reported by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, physical video game sales hit their lowest point in almost two decades during Fiscal Year 2025, dropping to around $1.55 billion in the United States. According to the chart shared by Piscatella, physical game sales peaked in 2009, amassing $11.5 billion in the USA alone.
However, the medium has been in free fall since then, declining in revenue every year until FY2025, which ended in May of last year. Sales of physical games did see a slight resurgence in the 2026 fiscal year, increasing by 3% in the US and making $1.6 billion.
But, considering how Mat Piscatella reported earlier that only seven PS5 games have sold more than 100k copies physically in 2026, this resurgence might be short-lived. Previous reports have also corroborated the dominance of digital purchases, with the medium accounting for 85% of all PlayStation game sales.
With lawmakers in several countries filing lawsuits against Sony, there is no denying that there is strong opposition to the digital-only strategy from the Japanese giant. However, with numbers looking bleaker with every passing year, it’s hard to see the company reverting its decision and resuming physical disc production.
Do you think physical discs should continue despite the lack of sales? Is going digital the wrong move from Sony? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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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 devoutly 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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