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People are calling for no buying digital for Sony's PS store in the coming weeks, will you boycott PlayStation sales over its no more physical media stance?
Will you boycott Sony?
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Thread started by Demon_Skeith
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Sony ending physical games in 2028 makes me not want to buy digital games from Sony because I prefer physical games.
Like most internet boycotts, it’ll get shared hundreds of thousands of times and only 1000 people will participate in it and nothing will change. It’s also pretty insincere when they purposefully scheduled it during a week when there’s no big releases. They should schedule it during GTA6, but we know nobody’s boycotting that.
Remember when people were boycotting Epic games because it had exclusives and then it stopped when that one game the “protesters” were dying to play at release? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
I’ll be logged into my PlayStation and enjoying it during that week.
Remember when people were boycotting Epic games because it had exclusives and then it stopped when that one game the “protesters” were dying to play at release? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
I’ll be logged into my PlayStation and enjoying it during that week.
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I haven't played my PS5 in a while anyways, so yep next gen I won't be getting a new Playstation console. My wife plays the PS5 more than I do anyways these days. So I can't completely boycott the company right now, because I wouldn't want to be an ass and prevent her from playing games or getting new ones.
Another reason why this boycott is useless is that they stated that it’s only a week long and, like I stated earlier, a slow week with no big titles coming out. Sony can easily survive one week with a dip in sales. This sounds like the failure that was the Reddit Blackout that happened a few years ago where they also announced it was temporary and had a planned end date.
A more effective boycott is to refuse to play your PlayStation until Sony reverses their decision. Hell, Catholics give up stuff longer during Lent than this protest is going to last.
A more effective boycott is to refuse to play your PlayStation until Sony reverses their decision. Hell, Catholics give up stuff longer during Lent than this protest is going to last.
I'm not boycotting. The writing was on the wall for a while now, and people are just magically waking up to the "news." Like how many of you even bought physical games recently? Did you go to a physical store to buy these games?
Many people don't understand: SONY is a ELECTRONICS company. They have a film/movies production company, and they make discs for THOSE films. Gaming is just one part of the Sony pie, and y'all get mad at Sony. Let's not forget that MICROSOFT started this with Xbox One, let's get this straight. Let's not get this twisted.
I'm not blaming Sony. I'm not blaming myself. I'm blaming y'all.
It just feels like everyone is trying to cancel Sony, and give Microsoft an award. While... they were the ones who started this digital push.
Many people don't understand: SONY is a ELECTRONICS company. They have a film/movies production company, and they make discs for THOSE films. Gaming is just one part of the Sony pie, and y'all get mad at Sony. Let's not forget that MICROSOFT started this with Xbox One, let's get this straight. Let's not get this twisted.
I'm not blaming Sony. I'm not blaming myself. I'm blaming y'all.
It just feels like everyone is trying to cancel Sony, and give Microsoft an award. While... they were the ones who started this digital push.
I think the irony is that many people are threatening to go to PC, but forgetting that there’s less physical games as in basically none, and hasn’t for about 20 years.
There’s also the hypocrisy where they’re whining about wanting physical games, but are happy to fork out monthly subscriptions to streaming companies for movies/TV shows and music, but gaming is where the line is drawn.
I still buy physical media regularly, but not for any philosophical reason. I just buy it cuz I want it and I have the room to have hundreds of games lying around. I’m not gonna pretend I’m not in a niche minority. I’m also not against digital, because I definitely buy those too.
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Overall, I don’t own a PlayStation to boycott it, and while I do like seeing players push back, I honestly doubt it’s going to move the needle much. As @Grungie pointed out, most internet boycotts get shared everywhere, but only a tiny fraction of people actually participate. And this one is scheduled during a slow week with no major releases, which makes it even less impactful.
Sony already said physical media is basically dead, and they’ve been restructuring their disc manufacturing facility for a while now. Plus, realistically, once GTA6 drops, people are going to break sales records on PlayStation (and on every other system) without hesitation. Then the PS6 will sell out day one. The market has already spoken, and it’s not on the side of physical media.
@Legend also made a good point: the writing has been on the wall for years, and most people haven’t been buying physical games anyway. Players say they want physical, but their buying habits haven’t matched that for a long time. In that sense, the players are part of the reason Sony feels comfortable making this move.
So while I get the sentiment behind the boycott, the odds aren’t in the players’ favor here. The impact will be minimal, and the industry momentum is already pushing in one direction, largely because players themselves shifted that way over time. I do support the ownership battle, and I do feel like 100% digital is not going to benefit gamers in the long term, but like @Grungie pointed out, everyone is allegedly running to PC, and I don't recall seeing Steam discs on the shelf.
Sony already said physical media is basically dead, and they’ve been restructuring their disc manufacturing facility for a while now. Plus, realistically, once GTA6 drops, people are going to break sales records on PlayStation (and on every other system) without hesitation. Then the PS6 will sell out day one. The market has already spoken, and it’s not on the side of physical media.
@Legend also made a good point: the writing has been on the wall for years, and most people haven’t been buying physical games anyway. Players say they want physical, but their buying habits haven’t matched that for a long time. In that sense, the players are part of the reason Sony feels comfortable making this move.
So while I get the sentiment behind the boycott, the odds aren’t in the players’ favor here. The impact will be minimal, and the industry momentum is already pushing in one direction, largely because players themselves shifted that way over time. I do support the ownership battle, and I do feel like 100% digital is not going to benefit gamers in the long term, but like @Grungie pointed out, everyone is allegedly running to PC, and I don't recall seeing Steam discs on the shelf.
I’ve seen some max copium in some Reddit and Facebook posts about how Sony is fudging the numbers by including DLC into their digital sales figures.
On one hand I get it’s a bit underhanded, but at the same time I don’t think it’s going to shift the numbers in such a drastic way that it’ll not keep digital game sales as a massive majority.
On one hand I get it’s a bit underhanded, but at the same time I don’t think it’s going to shift the numbers in such a drastic way that it’ll not keep digital game sales as a massive majority.
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I feel like the evidence to support this is all around us. GameStop is far from thriving; most big-box stores have pushed games to little corners in the electronics sections, and at least for my local area, all the smaller game stores are closed. You wouldn't be selling this if sales were thriving. I don't even remember seeing games at my local Best Buy last time I was there; I probably just missed them, but they certainly weren't front and center.
And it is not like gamers can't buy them, physical copies are on every major online store. People just didn't buy them.
Tbh, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy’s game sections have always been in the back area since before consoles went digital. They were never front and center. Unless I’m weird, I don’t recall Best Buy being the premier choice for video game purchases. Most people I knew went to Gamestop, Walmart, K-mart, Target, and Toys R Us (RIP) before mentioning Best Buy and except GameStop, they all had their game section back against the wall in the corner or far to the side.
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Ya, our list of stores was about the same. Although Sears was pretty high on the list locally. Our Walmart used to have a pretty big game area; all the consoles were set up to play, and they had a few aisles of games. I think we got lucky, as the Super Center was built at the prime of physical games; they still have a Switch to try. Our Best Buy was the big place to be for midnight releases; they always setup tournments and LAN events for major releases. I think they kind of filled in for GameStop, as we mostly had a small EB Games, and it was a while until a standalone GameStop popped up. Although, beyond the release events, no one went to Best Buy for gaming stuff.
I forgot about EB Games. For us, we didn’t have as many Best Buy’s as there are now, and we didn’t live in the major city so the other stores were closer. We had a Sears in town, but it was a Hometown Goods store. So it only sold tools, so the “real” Sears was like 30 mins away.
This is literally what I said in my video. Last time I was at Best Buy, the games section was all the way in the back. And likewise, the games are empty. Like, they're not selling.
Agreed with this post. They were always in the back. Sometimes, they're front and center, but that's because franchise games are about to come out. For example, if a new Call of Duty game is about to come out... It's always going to be in the front. Always. I go to Best Buy for my games. Walmart is basically dollar general for just about anything, I never purchase stuff there, unless it's food/grocery stuff. Kmart is basically Target. Target is basically Trader Joe's of "everything." Where everything is priced pretty high. GameStop was always nickel diming people, so much to the point of selling used games ....brand new. Only time I would buy from GameStop is when I feel lazy, and/or when I get off work and I'm again "lazy." I make it a point of buying sealed games, not any of this used bullshit. Best Buy almost sold me a used game, and I asked for a fresh, brand new game. So, they had to order a new one. I made them do it. I finally bought Batman Arkham Knight on PS4 ...brand new. Toys R' Us. Sad. Loved it. I used to work at Toys R' Us, poor working experience, but I loved Toys R' Us as a store.
You have a different experience than I did. Cool that you got tournaments in your Best Buy, I imagine that a good time.
Sounds like you live in a small town. I know how that is.
It wasn’t that small of a town, some of those stores weren’t as widespread 20+ years ago as they are now. The city (including the metro) would have like 2 or 3 Best Buy’s and Targets. Now there’s like a dozen and I’m probably still undercutting it.
I currently live inside the city limits of one of the biggest cities in America and it still takes 20 minutes to get to the nearest Best Buy or Target, and the speed limit is 70.
Try a small town with nothing for another 30 minutes. You'd have to wait for traffic is one part of the problem, then there's the length of which you have to go to get to the store. Mine? With shortcuts, like you said is 20 minutes, but without shortcuts? 30 minutes or more. We're learning our way around the new state, but boy does small towns suck.