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Sony plans to end disc-based games in 2028, and your PS5 library stays playable
No new game released in 2028 or later will get a physical copy, so here is what still works on your PS5 and why lawsuits over store pricing are part of the story.
What Sony plans for 2028
Sony plans to stop making disc-based games in 2028, which affects anyone who buys PlayStation games on disc. [1] No new games released in 2028 and beyond will get physical copies. [1]
Discs you already own keep working. Existing discs will continue to work on PS5 after the disc phase-out. [1] All PS5 game discs will continue to work on the console, as will old PS4 physical games. [1]
Disc drives and backward compatibility
The detachable PS5 disc drive costs $79. [1] It is available for the Slim digital PS5 and PS5 Pro. [1] It is not compatible with the original Digital Edition model. [1]
The PS5 is backward compatible with most PS4 titles, whether on disc or digital. [1] Game Boost delivers smoother frame rates for certain PS5 games, including God of War, The Last of Us Part II and Days Gone. [1] Many patched PS4 titles were upped to 60 fps on PS5, an improvement over how they ran on a standard PS4. [1]
There are gaps. According to Sony's PS5 backward compatibility page, a total of six PS4 games are not playable on PS5. [1] Hitman Go: Definitive Edition is among them. [1] Sony notes that other PS4 releases such as demos and media apps might not be compatible with PS5. [1]
What older discs and media do on PS5
The PS5 will not play physical PS1, PS2 or PS3 games. [1] Many legendary titles from older generations are available to play digitally from the PlayStation Store. [1] Games such as LittleBigPlanet and Shadow Hearts: Covenant remain abandoned on their original consoles. [1]
For video, the PS5 supports Ultra HD Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD discs. [1] 3D Blu-ray discs do not work on PS5. [1] Home-burned video discs may work if properly finalized, but there are no guarantees. [1] Raw video files cannot be dropped onto a disc and played on PS5. [1]
The PS5 cannot play audio CDs, unlike the PS3. [1] Apple Music and Spotify offer apps for the PS5 for listening to music while playing. [1] A USB drive with video or audio files, following Sony's instructions for folder naming and file types, is a suggested workaround for playing such files. [1]
Sony asserts that non-circular discs shaped like a card, star or heart will be rejected by the PS5. [1] Small GameCube discs should not be inserted into the PS5. [1]
How we got here: digital codes and the 30 percent cut
Sony Interactive Entertainment pulled digital download codes from retail stores in April 2019. [2] Critics argue PlayStation forces players to buy games exclusively from the PlayStation Store, which lets Sony take a 30-percent cut of sales. [2]
Lawsuits over PlayStation's store practices are international, spanning the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, Mexico and the United States. [2]
The US case
PlayStation user Agustin Caccuri filed a class action lawsuit on May 5, 2021 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. [2] Lawyers claimed the average price of a digital code for a PlayStation Store game was 74 percent higher than physical discs at retailers. [2]
Lawyers in the Caccuri complaint said Sony made approximately $17 billion in revenue from digital PlayStation game sales in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. [2] They estimated overcharges from Sony's alleged monopoly could be around $7 billion per year. [2]
Several similar lawsuits were consolidated under the Caccuri case in October 2023. [2] Sony said in its motion to dismiss that it is not doing anything wrong. [2] Sony settled the Caccuri case in April and will pay $7,850,000 to anyone who purchased digital games through the PlayStation Store in the covered period. [2]
The UK and Dutch cases
UK-based Milberg London and a consumer rights group represented by Alex Neill filed a $7.9 billion lawsuit with the Competition Appeal Tribunal. [2] The suit argues Sony is ripping people off through the 30-percent commission it takes on all PlayStation Store sales. [2] The trial ended in May and the tribunal is reviewing the case, with a decision expected within the year. [2]
Milberg Amsterdam announced in February 2025 that it was filing a complaint on behalf of Dutch consumer group Stichting Massaschade & Consument. [2] The Dutch case will be tried under Dutch law and is effectively the same as the UK lawsuit. [2] Milberg Amsterdam is asking for roughly $500 million for consumers. [2]
Milberg says the case concerns Sony's abuse of its dominant position, which translates into an unreasonably high 30% charge on PlayStation Store transactions. [2] A Milberg representative expects the Dutch foundation to be declared admissible, with the case moving to the merits phase in 2027. [2]
What the legal and market voices say
Legal scholar René Otto said physical games historically acted as an indirect competitive constraint for consumers. [2] He said competition law does not prohibit companies from being successful or dominant; the legal question is whether Sony is abusing a dominant market position. [2] Otto said Sony's likely argument is that the relevant market is video games generally, while the lawsuits argue the relevant market is within Sony's own ecosystem. [2]
Consumer advocacy group representative Lucia Melcherts said the end of physical discs removes the last place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price. [2] A Milberg representative said the secondhand game market is estimated at some $7.2 billion globally. [2] The same representative said PlayStation still sold an estimated 70 million physical discs in 2025. [2]
What this means for you
If you own PS5 discs, they keep working after the phase-out. [1] If you own old PS4 physical games, they also keep working. [1]
If you want a disc drive for a Slim digital PS5 or a PS5 Pro, the detachable drive costs $79. [1] If you have the original Digital Edition, the detachable drive is not compatible. [1]
If you want to play PS1, PS2 or PS3 games, the PS5 will not play the physical versions, though many older titles are available digitally from the PlayStation Store. [1] If you want to check a PS4 game, Sony's PS5 backward compatibility page lists six PS4 games that are not playable. [1]
If you bought digital games through the PlayStation Store, the Caccuri settlement will pay $7,850,000 to anyone who did so in the covered period. [2] The UK tribunal's decision is expected within the year. [2]
Sources
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