Former PlayStation Chief Criticizes Future of Disc-Based Games

Former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios head Shawn Layden criticized Sony’s abandonment of physical media, stating that without the ability to resell a game, a player cannot consider it their property.

Speaking on The Expansion Pass podcast, Shawn Layden acknowledged the convenience of digital downloads while calling the decision to ignore disc buyers a serious business mistake. He stated that although physical copies currently account for about 20% of the market, these buyers remain the core of the community and frequently purchase multiple editions of a single game for their collections.

Layden’s main objection concerns ownership rights. Abandoning discs turns the purchase of a game into payment for temporary access to a digital file. The former executive formulated the principle as follows: if an item cannot be lent to a friend, placed on a shelf, or legally sold on the secondhand market, then it was never your property.

Layden also stated that he disagrees with the decision to drop disc drives regardless of how profitable it may look in corporate calculations.