I am one of many out there that is quite upset with Sony. I won’t begin the list the many faux pas the company has committed in 2026 alone, but the primary pain point for me was the no physical disc by 2028. While I’m not normally the one to boycott a product or company simply because they pissed me off, their decision resonated at a much deeper level as a collector of physical media and advocate for consumer rights. With that said, as I stare longingly at my PlayStation 5, I realize that “breaking up” with a platform is a lot more challenging than I thought.

I bring this topic up because I know there is a subset of the gaming community that will no longer wish to support Sony PlayStation. It makes sense. The decision was divisive and controversial. There is an ongoing lawsuit in California surrounding digital ownership— Heycock v. Sony Corporation of America. PlayStation considers digital game sales as issuing revokable licenses and states that no reasonable consumer expects ownership. Therefore, this issue is more than preference between digital versus physical.

My primary consoles at home are my Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. I’ve owned Nintendo consoles all my gaming life, and I hopped onto the Sony train not long after when the PlayStation 2 arrived. It was such a wonderful console with memorable games that are still considered my all-time favorites. I usually associated Nintendo with exclusive IP like The Legend of Zelda and PlayStation with the more action-packed and “adult” games. Between the two, all my gaming needs were satisfied for decades.

I personally prefer to buy physical media, in part because of my age but also because it guaranteed access to the game any time I wish. Maybe my reasons weren’t terribly strong then, but they are now, knowing that Sony has made it very clear that we do not own digital games that we pay full price—and the same price as their physicals—for.

Circling back to my point, I am struggling with that to do with my current set up. Yes, I want to break up with PlayStation due to their misaligned values, and I thought it would be easy because of near-universal access for most video games across multiple platforms. I have the Switch 2, which, thanks to its increased power, has more third-party support and ports, Xbox, and the Steam Machine. Yes, I know the Steam Machine is all digital, but in the event everything trends to all digital, Steam has shown a consumer-friendly approach for digital ownership. However, I already paid for and own, a PlayStation 5. Unless I drop it from a two-story building, it has plenty of mileage left. I don’t want to sell the PlayStation to a third party or trade it in because I’ll get a crappy price for it (it’s the OG model, not the Pro). It’s too expensive to trash or hand it to someone for free.

So…do I keep buying games because I own the system and then stop once PlayStation 6 comes out? I feel like that is such a waste of investment in an ecosystem that I no longer support. On the flip side, maybe it is worth investing in PlayStation physicals before they go extinct. The future of the video game industry is uncertain in many ways including the future of physical media, use of generative AI, and more. In the end, I suppose I should’ve known that taking a stance against Sony wasn’t going to be that easy. I can’t just chuck my PlayStation 5 out the window and call it a day. I still have a $500 console that has years of life left in it, collecting dust.

Are you a PlayStation owner with conflicting feelings about the future? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.

Boss Rush Network Spotlight Interview Series – Part of Boss Rush Podcast Plus

The Boss Rush Network Spotlight Interview Series is a major part of Boss Rush Podcast Plus, featuring insightful conversations with developers, publishers, creators, and industry veterans. Each interview delves into their careers, experiences in the gaming industry, creative inspirations, and favorite games, offering a personal look at the people shaping the games we play today. Find more interviews, spoilercasts, episodes of Expansion Pass, and more on YouTube and podcast services.

Listen to Boss Rush Podcast Plus on Podcast Services
Apple Podcasts + Spotify + Goodpods + Amazon + More Links

Follow and Connect with Boss Rush
X/Twitter + Bluesky + Instagram + Threads + YouTube

Thank you for watching or listening to our Boss Rush Network Spotlight Interview Series! If you enjoyed the discussion, please subscribe, like the video, and tap the notification bell so you never miss an upload. Listening on a podcast service? Leave us a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it really helps! We appreciate your continued support, wherever you enjoyed this episode. For more great content, visit our website. Thank you for your continued support of our independent endeavor.

Featured Image Source: PlayStation Blog

Sources: Open Class Actions