Hideo Kojima warns pure digitalization is "frightening"! PS disc production halt in 2028 is just the beginning. Have you truly ever owned a game?

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that it will cease production of physical PlayStation discs from January 2028, shocking gamers worldwide. Legendary game producer Hideo Kojima recently stated at the Rome Film Festival that a fully digital future is "frightening"—consumers risk losing "true ownership" of games, movies, and music.

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Table of Contents

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• Sony decides: The disc era ends in 2028
• "The right to turn on the faucet": Kojima's philosophy of ownership
• A 2021 prophecy: Kojima had already warned
• Not just a gaming issue: Collective anxiety over digital ownership

"Because (disc) production will end in 2028… I grew up with physical media, so I feel very sad." Standing on the stage of the "Il Cinema in Piazza" festival in Rome, Italy, the gaming legend Hideo Kojima spoke these words. He wasn't discussing his upcoming new game Death Stranding 2 or the horror game OD in collaboration with Microsoft, but rather the bombshell news Sony Interactive Entertainment recently dropped on gamers worldwide: Physical game discs for PlayStation consoles will officially become history in January 2028.

Sony decides: The disc era ends in 2028

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) stated in a recent internal decision that, as consumer preferences and the entertainment industry continue to shift from physical discs to digital content, production of new game physical discs for the PlayStation platform will fully cease from January 2028. Games released after that date will only be available digitally (via download codes) through the PlayStation Store and retail channels; titles already released or scheduled for disc release before January 2028 will not be affected.

This news sent shockwaves through the gaming community. Although digital downloads have long been mainstream, with PC platforms like Steam and Epic Games Store being almost entirely digital, PlayStation—as one of the world's largest console brands—making an official announcement to end disc production carries strong symbolic significance. This marks the gradual end of a consumer experience spanning over 30 years: "inserting a disc to play a game."

"The right to turn on the faucet": Kojima's philosophy of ownership

In the seminar, Kojima further elaborated on his deep concerns about a purely digital future. He pointed out that even if games are now downloaded versions, the data is still stored on the player's hard drive; but if the future moves further toward "streaming-only," even that will disappear.

Using streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime as examples, he said: "What users actually have is only 'the right to turn on the faucet.'" When you turn on the faucet, data from the server is delivered to you; once you cancel your subscription, the faucet stops flowing. In other words, consumers never truly "own" those movies, music, or games—they merely obtain a license to watch or play during the payment period.

Kojima warned that servers are controlled by companies, but there are still countries, politics, and various ideological changes in the world. If the relevant environment changes, it is entirely possible that data provision will cease. If that leads to one's favorite movies or games becoming unplayable or unwatchable, such a future is "frightening." He also noted that what will happen to games in 2028 could repeat in the movie and music industries.

A 2021 prophecy: Kojima had already warned

This is not the first time Kojima has sounded the alarm about the digital wave. As early as 2021, he publicly pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that if the entertainment industry is completely monopolized by digital streaming, individuals could at any time face the risk of "being deprived of the right to access data." He wrote at the time: "In the future, we may no longer be able to freely access the movies, books, and music we once loved."

This statement from four years ago is now being widely shared on social media, with many fans calling him a "time traveler" who foresaw today's situation. Kojima himself recently revealed that he is actively buying up various Blu-ray movies and music CDs, trying to hold onto the works he treasures before physical media completely disappears.

Not just a gaming issue: Collective anxiety over digital ownership

Kojima's concerns reflect a core issue that consumers in the digital age have long overlooked: when everything is "subscribed" rather than "owned," do one's cultural assets truly belong to oneself?

In the cryptocurrency and blockchain community, this question is not unfamiliar—"Not your keys, not your coins" and "Not your disc, not your game" are essentially the same type of anxiety. When PlayStation Store shuts down its disc production line in 2028, Sony might one day shut down servers for some older-generation consoles. At that point, will the "ownership" that exists only in the cloud evaporate along with the company's business decisions?

Kojima's closing remarks at the seminar may serve as the best summary: "What I'm sad about is not that the discs themselves disappear, but that we are losing the right to choose 'to own.'" In a world where everything can be streamed, the concept of "possession" itself may be the most luxurious thing of all.