In 10 years, the share of digital sales for major publishers has more than doubled: the decline of retail in charts and data

Sony's upcoming move away from discs has become one of the most talked-about events in the industry in recent months. We decided to take a look at the situation from a market data perspective to find out how the share of digital sales has changed among major publishers and what the current state of gaming retail is.

Inside, there's the usual abundance of numbers and graphs. But first, let's recall how the events of recent weeks unfolded.

Sony's Decision from a PR Perspective: Key Mistakes

On June 25, pre-orders for GTA VI began, and it became known that physical editions would not include discs—only digital codes would be available in retail boxes. Less than a week later, on July 1, Sony announced its decision to cease disc production for PlayStation starting January 2028. Formally, these two events are unrelated, but if desired—and considering the close cooperation between PlayStation and Take-Two—one might connect the dots. However, let's avoid speculation.

Alongside this, the Japanese corporation announced the shutdown of digital stores for PS3 and PS Vita. Considering that in June, Sony removed over 500 movies and TV shows from users' personal libraries, the audience once again questioned the reliability of digital distribution channels.

From a PR and communications standpoint, it seems PlayStation did everything wrong: