Sony's plan to stop producing discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028 has run into a fast-growing wall of public opposition. A Canadian game retailer has turned that frustration into an organized campaign, and the resulting petition has already pulled in more than 220,000 signatures. The retailer behind the effort, PNP Games, launched the petition on July 1, the same day Sony confirmed it would end physical disc production for new titles in 2028. Its message to Sony is direct: keep disc-based games available so future players can own their games outright rather than simply license access to them.
An Independent Retailer Leads the Charge
PNP Games isn't a games-media outlet or advocacy nonprofit — it's a working retail business. The company got its start in 2005 selling games on eBay and has since grown into an operation with three physical storefronts across Canada, stocking everything from consoles and controllers to home goods like art and drinkware. That retail background gives the petition, titled "Don't Kill the Disc," a different vantage point than most fan-driven campaigns: it's coming from a company with a direct financial stake in physical media staying alive. The petition's stated goal is straightforward, asking signers to tell Sony to preserve disc-based games past 2028 so future generations can own what they play instead of merely renting access to it. Since going live on Change.org, signatures have climbed past the 220,000 mark, a scale that signals the issue resonates well beyond collectors and retro-gaming enthusiasts.
The Business Case for Physical Media
PNP Games CEO Jade Pearce laid out the company's reasoning in a July 6 interview with IGN, framing the fight as much about industry livelihoods as consumer choice. "Physical games support an entire industry that an all-digital future quietly erases: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, the pre-owned and trade-in market, and the collector and preservation community," Pearce said, adding that the shift would put thousands of jobs and countless small businesses at risk while consolidating control over game access into the hands of platform holders. Pearce has also pushed back on the idea that the petition is anti-digital. Writing directly on the campaign's page, Pearce said PNP Games isn't opposed to digital distribution itself, but to digital becoming the only available option, arguing that a substantial community of players still wants a physical product they can own, lend, resell, trade, gift, or hand down. The petition frames the disc itself as tangible proof of ownership, something that survives a platform's decisions about servers, licenses, or storefronts long after purchase.
Signers Weigh In on What's at Stake
The reaction among the petition's signatories points to a broader unease about where console gaming is headed. According to PNP Games, a large share of commenters said Sony's move to end disc production would factor directly into whether they continue buying PlayStation hardware and software at all. Others described the decision as consumer-unfriendly, while a notable number said that if the industry is inevitably heading toward all-digital distribution, they'd rather shift their spending to PC gaming instead. Sony has not yet responded publicly to the petition. GameSpot has said it reached out to PNP Games for further comment, but as of now neither Sony nor the retailer has indicated whether the growing signature count will influence the company's 2028 timeline. With the petition's total climbing well past 220,000 and counting, PNP Games has turned a single retailer's objection into one of the more visible pushbacks against console gaming's slow drift away from physical formats — leaving Sony to decide whether that pressure is enough to revisit its 2028 plans.
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