Gaming strike: can Sony hear players’ anger?

Could a gaming strike make Sony take notice of players’ anger? One collective believes so, and is urging people to keep their console switched off for a week.

Players remain deeply unhappy. On 1 July, Sony announced that it would permanently stop using the disc format for every game released after January 2028. This abrupt, unilateral decision has enraged many players.

Since the announcement, angry fans have flooded every Sony social-media post. A petition launched by the Does it Play collective has also reached 346,000 signatures on Change.org. Sony has not responded, however. The group has therefore chosen an unprecedented form of action: a gaming strike. In a post on X, it is calling on people to leave their console turned off - or disconnected from the internet - from 23 to 30 August. The strike is symbolic, but it aims to demonstrate the scale of the movement to the manufacturer. Beyond the end of physical media, it is Sony’s decisions over recent years that are being challenged:

“For several years now, Sony Interactive Entertainment has continued to move away from its fan base. Whether it is closing beloved studios such as Bluepoint, pursuing an ill-advised live-service strategy, cancelling fan events, letting PS VR2 die, or being completely out of touch with the franchises players want to see return, PlayStation has never seemed so distant from its community.

Ending physical discs in 2028 feels like the final straw. We understand that there are limits to what SIE can control, but when it comes to decisions within its control, the company continues to mishandle the strong position inherited from the PS4 era.

There are so many problems with PlayStation right now that bringing back physical games would only be meeting players halfway. SIE still has plenty of work to do. We miss Twisted Metal, SOCOM, Sly Cooper and Resistance. We miss PlayStation Experience. We miss Japan Studio.

With that said, we are calling on PlayStation players to take part in an economic and gaming boycott from Sunday 23 August, at 7 pm local time, until Sunday 30 August, at 7 pm local time. Players can participate by switching off their console or disconnecting for seven days. We believe this period has minimal impact on publishers and developers while giving players a voice.”

Sony’s end of physical discs goes beyond collecting

Stopping disc production marks a major shift for the video-game industry. Digital purchases now account for the majority of the market - 66% of the French market, according to SELL - but many players still value physical media. It is not simply about displaying a box on a shelf: preservation is also at stake. A game on disc is a game you own, provided it does not require a mandatory connection. A digital game, by contrast, is a licence that is rented. The recent PSN outage left numerous single-player games inaccessible, further highlighting the risk of abandoning physical media entirely.

Can the gaming strike make Sony listen?

It remains to be seen whether the gaming strike will make Sony aware of the growing discontent among its customers.