Posted by Tiberium 10 hours ago
If I remember well PS3 was during the period where blu-ray lasers were production constrained and more expensive with Sony prioritizing their own devices, so the console was price and availability competitive against dedicated disc players by third parties. And the PS3 had pretty long term update/support. I'm fairly sure that had an impact on the financial side as it was in the era when console hardware was subsidized on the expectation they'd get a slice of game sales, except those consoles bought for primarily for movies didn't reimburse them so well.
Stuff like Blu-Ray seems to be becoming a Laserdisc like enthusiasts niche system, I don’t think it’s been a big thing for Sony for a while.
Same reason I prefer GoG over Steam -- at least I can download the installers and store them, and there is no string attached.
That means that when the PS8 rolls around, any games you've bought for the digital-only PS6 will be unplayable, so think about that when you buy digital games when that (and for PS5 now) comes through.
* Allowing resale of digital games
* Transferring game licences between platforms (so now you have all your Steam games on your Xbox (at least those that run)
* Developing a new disc format (or other physical format) and locking in that for the next gen
* Just buying a blu-ray factory or two to secure supply and locking in and promising physical releases going forward (and then living up to those promises, which isn't going to be easy with bean counters breathing down their neck)
These are massive asks in the current reality, so I can't see MS bothering. Xbox already seems to be living on the edge of relevancy. It seems more likely to me that they just won't bother any more and relegate it to a brand for what remains of the gaming part of Microsoft.
But 'physical media' is one of the reasons why a lot o people make a distinction between PC and console games. Removing this will make it easier for consumers to compare a PS5 to a Steam machine, and I don't think that is a good thing for Sony.