Shūhei Yoshida, former head of PlayStation, explains that he cannot understand the frustration over the end of the disc. He describes himself as “completely digital” and a pure digital consumer.
Who is it about? Shūhei Yoshida was the head of PlayStation Studios from 2008 to 2019, and in 2019 he stepped down but remained with Sony. In 2025, he left his long-time employer after 31 years.
Yoshida commented in an interview with the portal GamerBraves about Sony’s plans to eliminate the physical disc for its console. He does not see the end of the disc as a major issue and emphasized that he is a thoroughly digital consumer, viewing the absence of discs as a significantly more convenient solution.
Yoshida: Anyone who chooses to buy a physical version still has to download new patches, DLCs, or updates.
What exactly does he say? In the interview, he explained that he feels like a digital gamer. He does not want to buy a disc and have to constantly swap them. He describes himself as “completely digital”:
But I personally am a thoroughly digital consumer. I don’t want to deal with discs or have to swap them. I want all my games on my dashboard, and I just select a game and play it. So I am completely digital.
He also added that most games, even on a disc, wouldn’t avoid a download. Developers deliver patches or new content via download. Therefore, he does not understand why everyone is so upset about the end of the disc:
Even with games on physical media, developers are constantly updating and augmenting the game data in most cases. Anyone who decides to buy a physical version still has to download new patches, DLCs, or updates. So I don’t understand why the absence of a disc should be such a big problem.
However, he also acknowledged the significance of physical media for some fans. For gamers who would prefer to display their games on shelves in their homes, an important aspect of buying a game is lost.
However, Yoshida overlooks an important aspect: if games are only available digitally, it especially affects the used game market. For many players, this means a financial loss. Because in the past, one could easily resell completed games and use the money to buy new titles. Many will now think twice about whether to buy a potential flop digitally without being able to return it: Sony’s decision to abolish the disc for PlayStation will cost us gamers a lot of money
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