- 2026’s top-selling PlayStation titles show a huge difference between digital and physical sales.
- The data reveals that only 35% of Ghost of Yotei copies sold were physical, the highest this year.
- Resident Evil Requiem was the second best, with only 27.8% of disc editions sold.
Sony recently announced that it is shuttering sales of its first-party physical edition PlayStation games starting in 2028. The decision was met with incredible player and developer backlash, but new sales data shows Sony might not have reached this verdict lightly.
New sales data about 2026’s top-selling games on PlayStation reveals that many of the titles were sold digitally. For example, EA’s FC 26 had 5.1 million total sales, and only a concerning 12% of them were sold as disc editions.
Why it matters: As grim as it is, this new sales data offers a glimpse into Sony’s rationale for pulling the plug on first-party PlayStation disc releases. This growing disparity between both editions would have led to the death of physical releases sooner or later.
This data comes from the reputable firm Alinea Analytics, revealing that 2026’s only PlayStation first-party title, Ghost of Yotei, sold over 1.2 million copies globally. Only 35.4% of these sales were physical, with the rest being entirely digital.
Meanwhile, Resident Evil Requiem had the second-highest split between physical and digital copies, accounting for 27.8% disc edition sales.
The report finds that nearly 900k of the total PS5 player base clocked less than 10 hours in Requiem, meaning that most of these physical copies would end up in the hands of resellers. That’s something both Sony and Capcom want to prevent; it’s a similar story with Ghost of Yotei.
Additionally, Crimson Desert and 007 First Light sold 2 million and 1.9 million copies on PlayStation, with 21% and 19.9% of these sales being physical, respectively.
Alinea concludes that while Sony is technically following its customers by discontinuing disc releases, this move is also driven by ‘profit, control, and lifetime value from players.’
Regardless, many players have decided to ditch the PlayStation brand and are cancelling PlayStation Plus subscriptions to protest.
Do you think a lack of disc sales in 2026’s major PlayStation game releases further solidifies digital dominance? Does it give Sony the right to cancel physical copies entirely? 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 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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