A famous developer reveals with numbers why discs are dying!
0 Twitter Telegram Whatsapp Facebook The decision by Take-Two and Rockstar Games last month sparked widespread controversy after they announced that GTA 6 would not be released in a physical edition, a news that stirred massive anger among players worldwide.
Just days later, Sony Interactive Entertainment intensified the controversy after announcing its plan to stop producing new game discs by 2028, a step that many see as the beginning of the end for the era of physical gaming.
Despite the strong opposition from the gaming community, Marek Tyminski, founder and CEO of CI Games, believes that this shift is inevitable, as selling games digitally yields publishers significantly higher profits than physical copies.
“Releasing GTA 6 without a disc version seems unfair to the studios that still support physical releases, and it also accelerates this shift. If Sony stops supporting discs in 2028, we could see a sharp decline in disc releases starting in 2027, and perhaps even before that.”
He added that physical copies have become a burden on developers, explaining that they yield lower returns per copy sold, take longer to produce, and incur additional costs in an industry where many studios are already struggling with low profits.
He pointed out that the studio's upcoming game, Lords of the Fallen 2, will be released on discs, but he admitted that justifying this decision has become more difficult commercially, especially since physical copy sales now represent less than 20% of total sales.
To clarify the picture with numbers, Tyminski revealed the significant profit disparity between digital and physical versions. When selling a game for $69.99, retailers take 25 to 35% of the price, while distributors get 10 to 20%, in addition to the fact that manufacturing discs costs about $10 per single copy.
The developer is left with just over $26 on every physical copy, compared to around $49 from each digital copy at the highest profit margin.
“And the situation worsens as the game's price drops. While major publishers get better terms, they also achieve much higher profits from digital sales. When it comes to return on investment alone, the choice is quite clear.”
In light of this reality, Tyminski sees what is happening with GTA 6 and PlayStation as potentially the beginning of an irreversible shift. During the discussion, one user suggested raising the prices of physical copies or limiting to issuing Collector’s Editions equipped with discs to compensate for falling sales, but Tyminski dismissed the success of this idea, clarifying that it would make the disc market smaller and would not be enough to convince hardware manufacturers to continue supporting this type of release.
Although the business logic strongly leans towards a digital future, the gaming community does not seem ready to give up easily. In recent days, there have been widespread protest campaigns, alongside online petitions signed by thousands of players opposing the abandonment of discs.
Yet, the bigger question remains: Will Sony backtrack on its decision under public pressure, or are we truly at the beginning of the end of the physical gaming era as we know it?
I have loved video games since the days of the family console and I prefer adventure games like Tomb Raider and Assassins Creed (before the shift to RPG), I have no bias toward any home console; for me, the best is the one that offers the most distinctive games. What matters to me is the experience with compelling storytelling because the story is the basis of enjoyment more than the gameplay.
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