Brands mock Sony for disc-less PlayStation shift as gamers continue to vent

While companies joke about Sony’s announcement of a disc-less PlayStation, the company is already making internal changes that affect its workers.

Sony has recently announced its plans to move PlayStation games to digital, discontinuing physical game discs.

Despite the change only starting in January 2028, the company’s decision sparked a wave of mockery on X, with other well-known companies sharing news of their own plans to go “digital.”

As a joke, several restaurant chains, including Domino's and KFC, announced that their products would no longer be sold in physical stores.

“As of 1st April 2027, Domino's UK will cease production of physical pizzas and shift to production of digital pizzas only,” Domino’s said on its X page.

Meanwhile, KFC revealed that “its products can only be consumed through its app in fake PNG format,” starting July 2nd, 2026.

More companies taunt Sony on X

Others hopped on the Sony mock train, too.

Malwarebytes, an anti-malware software company, shared that it will keep its users safe by letting its team member “dressed in a giant M suit” accompany users to their doctor's appointments to make sure they’re “virus-free so [they] don't pass cooties on to [their] device.”

Companies like GameSir, which offers gaming hardware, software, and services, and the phone brand Nothing Spain, also had a dig at Sony.

What’s the fuss around the Sony PlayStation going disc-less?

According to a blog post from Sony, future PlayStation games released after January 2028 will only be sold in digital format.

“This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,”

the company said.

Sony also revealed that it will be shutting down the PlayStation Store for its PS3 and PS Vita devices, as they can no longer support secure payment systems. The change should be implemented gradually, starting with select markets.

Currently, the disc-less trend is a hot topic in the gaming industry, as users waiting for the new Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) game were also disappointed to learn it will come in a box with a code, not a disc.

Users don’t want physical games to go extinct

Despite the company explaining that these changes are in response to trends in which many players choose digital versions of games, user reactions suggest otherwise.

“We are not against digital. We are against digital being the only option,” states a petition, “Don't Kill the Disc: Tell Sony to Keep Physical PlayStation Games.”

According to the petition, signed by more than 31,000 people at the time of reporting, by leaving users without a physical copy of the game, Sony is “renting access [to the game] that can be revoked.”

This wouldn’t be the first time, as recently Sony has announced it will delete 551 movies and TV shows from users' PlayStation libraries. The reason for this is a disagreement with Studio Canal, the film and television production and distribution company.

The petition also highlighted that this change puts some people at risk of losing their jobs.

“Physical games support an entire industry that an all-digital future quietly erases: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, the pre-owned and trade-in market, and the collector and preservation community,” stated the petition.

Sony is already moving on

Sony isn’t the only one making changes to how the games will now be distributed.

It’s been reported that Microsoft is testing a feature that would allow Xbox users to digitize games on discs, at least this way preserving them for future use.

Meanwhile, Sony is already making changes that will affect 300 of its plant workers in Thalgau, Austria.

Here, 600,000 discs are still being produced every day, the number that should decrease significantly once PlayStation goes disc-less.

Dietmar Tanzer, CEO of Sony DADC International, told ORF Salzburg that the company intends to keep the same number of employees, who will instead work on manufacturing optical microlenses.