Sony acknowledges backlash, “cautiously” moves ahead with end of PlayStation discs
Sony acknowledges backlash, “cautiously” moves ahead with end of PlayStation discs
索尼承认引发强烈抵制，但仍将“谨慎”推进停止生产 PlayStation 光盘的计划
Sony is “cautiously” moving forward with plans to stop producing discs for PlayStation games as of January 2028, CFO Lin Tao said through an interpreter today. During an earnings call, Tao said there are “various reasons” for Sony’s decision, with the biggest being that the “digitalization of [content] overall has been progressing.”
索尼首席财务官林涛（Lin Tao）今日通过翻译表示，索尼正“谨慎”推进计划，将于 2028 年 1 月起停止生产 PlayStation 游戏光盘。在财报电话会议上，林涛表示索尼做出这一决定有“多种原因”，其中最主要的是“（内容）整体数字化进程一直在推进”。
“When we think about the future, and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion. And we’re going to cautiously move this forward,” Tao said.
“当我们思考未来时，我们投入了大量的思考和时间，并对此进行了审慎的考量，最终得出了这个结论。我们将谨慎地推进这一进程，”林涛说道。
Sony’s announcement this month has drawn backlash from gamers and big names in the gaming industry who question a future in which they don’t own PlayStation games but instead buy licenses, which can be revoked. There’s also concern that some games will become hard to find if Sony eventually closes its digital storefronts.
索尼本月的公告引发了玩家和游戏行业知名人士的强烈抵制。他们质疑未来的游戏模式——玩家不再真正拥有 PlayStation 游戏，而是购买随时可能被撤销的许可。此外，人们还担心如果索尼最终关闭其数字店面，一些游戏将变得难以寻觅。
Tao acknowledged that “people have strong views” about the end of PlayStation discs. “Games are loved by many people,” she said. “It’s a form of entertainment that’s loved by people. It’s connected to people’s fond memories in many cases. We understand those emotions. We want to consider that, and in the future digital ecosystem how… we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore.”
林涛承认，对于停止生产 PlayStation 光盘一事，“人们有强烈的看法”。她说：“游戏受到许多人的喜爱。这是一种深受大众喜爱的娱乐形式，在很多情况下，它与人们的美好回忆息息相关。我们理解这些情感。我们希望考虑到这一点，并在未来的数字生态系统中，如何……与玩家互动，是我们想要继续探索的方向。”
The change in strategy reflects how Sony sells games today. In its fiscal year ending on March 31, digital downloads accounted for 78 percent of Sony’s full-game unit purchases. In 2008, 100 PlayStation games sold over 100,000 physical units in the first half of the year, compared to seven in the first half of 2026, according to data shared this month by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella. More broadly, physical game sales have declined from 297 million units in the US from June 2008 through June 2009 to 37 million in the past year, Circana’s data says.
这一战略转变反映了索尼当下的游戏销售现状。在截至 3 月 31 日的财年中，数字下载量占索尼完整游戏购买量的 78%。根据 Circana 分析师 Mat Piscatella 本月分享的数据，2008 年上半年有 100 款 PlayStation 游戏销量超过 10 万份实体版，而 2026 年上半年仅有 7 款。从更广泛的角度来看，Circana 的数据显示，美国实体游戏销量已从 2008 年 6 月至 2009 年 6 月的 2.97 亿份下降至去年的 3700 万份。
When asked about the financial impact of Sony’s decision to end disc production, Ishii, a corporate communications executive, said Sony has yet to see an impact and noted that content sales are largely “digitized” already. “Therefore, as a result of the discontinuation of a disc, we don’t see that there will be any negative impact on our business. However… the users, the players, have attachments, and we have to think about how to respond to those feedbacks,” the executive said, per a transcript of the call.
当被问及索尼决定停止光盘生产对财务的影响时，企业传播高管石井（Ishii）表示，索尼尚未看到任何影响，并指出内容销售在很大程度上已经“数字化”。根据会议记录，该高管表示：“因此，由于停止光盘生产，我们认为不会对我们的业务产生任何负面影响。然而……用户和玩家有情感寄托，我们必须考虑如何回应这些反馈。”
Sony executives were also asked how PlayStation will differentiate itself from PC gaming, which generally does not use discs. Tao said Sony doesn’t believe discs are what distinguishes PlayStation from the PC, instead pointing to “curated” content as a strength of the console, according to the transcript. “The game environment being stable, that’s another strength. Compared to the high-end gaming PC, our product is more affordable. We don’t feel that the disc itself is a strong factor for differentiation. Going forward, we can coexist peacefully with PC games.”
索尼高管还被问及 PlayStation 将如何与通常不使用光盘的 PC 游戏区分开来。根据会议记录，林涛表示索尼并不认为光盘是 PlayStation 与 PC 的区别所在，反而指出“精选”内容才是该主机的优势。“游戏环境稳定是另一个优势。与高端游戏 PC 相比，我们的产品更实惠。我们不认为光盘本身是一个强大的差异化因素。展望未来，我们可以与 PC 游戏和平共处。”
Sony has reportedly started repurposing its disc factory to make optical microlenses.
据报道，索尼已开始将其光盘工厂改建，用于生产光学微透镜。