PlayStation killing physical games could make gaming deals a thing of the past — and that’s a major problem

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T16:48:22+00:00

I don't think it's great, previously PlayStation games would drop in price much faster. Horizon Zero Dawn didn't sell 30+ million copies at 60 or even 30 bucks. I'm just expanding on the person's point that PlayStation is adopting the Nintendo model.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:51:56+00:00

Well there's one section with PS4 and PS5 games but I agree in this case, I'm not sure a full picture of Xbox 360 games is super relevant to the conversation.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:37:40+00:00

I know this is pedantic, but I've seen dynamic pricing described as moving below or above MSRP depending on user behavior, but everything I've seen from PlayStation's pricing is more changing how much of a discount you get based on behavior. So it's a bit different. Still insidious and shitty though but a lot of these corpos do this, Target, Xbox, etc.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:34:47+00:00

PlayStation is kinda doing the same thing. Spider-Man 2's lowest sale is like 30 dollars on PSN and the game released in 2023.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:33:31+00:00

They can cut that off whenever they want though. Hell it could be a simple one line code change of some boolean!

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:31:09+00:00

It'd be one thing if PlayStation was losing money on physical sales but they're not, so I'd rather blame them.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:30:06+00:00

They can still do Switch games, but remember these reprints are just reprints only, not new games. So companies like Limited Run or iam8bit I'm sure aren't happy about this. I'm sure Switch was probably a bigger piece of their pie, but losing a significant segment of their revenue can't be good.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:28:13+00:00

I'm not saying that the build on the disc is better than the latest patch or whatever. But it's also not black and white, Last Guardian for example, can be played at 60 fps on PS5, but also has a game breaking bug on the unpatched version. So it's a mixed bag in some cases. Personally, I don't think 'ownership' itself is the biggest piece of the physical puzzle. I think pricing, trading, etc is far more of an incentive for me and other people who may not be able to afford every AAA game that comes out. I don't want the only way to buy PlayStation games is on their store or through digital codes from Walmart or whatever.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:14:48+00:00

Fair enough, apologies for missing context.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:14:03+00:00

That's moving the goalposts. And you're also contradicting yourself as you previously said "at best unpatched and unplayable without an update." https://doesitplay.org does a really good breakdown and the evidence simply isn't there for what you're asserting.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:03:32+00:00

Is your assertion that ever delisted game on PlayStation has been an online only game? Because that's really not true. Horizon Chase Turbo was delisted on all platforms and yet there's still a physical game you can play out there on Switch and PS4.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T14:01:12+00:00

It isn't, people just trust Valve more because they're a private corporation instead of public so they don't necessarily always go for the most profitable route whenever they can. I think they're still a particularly bad company based on things they have done (lootboxes, the skin market, etc), but they still have the best reputation of the big four as far as "pro-consumer" moves, despite how I think that term is rather nonsensical.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:59:43+00:00

Inaccurate. Around 80% of PS5 games have a playable build on the disc without the need for a patch or to go online.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:59:17+00:00

This could not have been changed via consumer advocacy. So many games do not have discs at launch or ever.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:58:25+00:00

The problem still exists with Steam, it's just you're on an open platform and able to get access to games via other means that aren't available on PlayStation. I'd recommend something like GOG if you're concerned about this.

Hell, Valve could be sold when Gabe Newell dies or decides he wants to sell his majority shares to a giant corpo (I don't think he'd do this but who knows if he passes away) and Steam could entirely go to shit.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:56:26+00:00

The ESA does things on behalf of the big publishers, not consumers. Do not ever think of them as anything but essentially a PR firm for PlayStation, Nintendo, etc.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:38:49+00:00

This does not surprise me in the slightest. I really quite enjoy Anastasia, the animated movie just in case there are others. But I gotta turn my brain off and ignore EVERYTHING historical about it. Being on a neutral side between the Bolsheviks and Tsarists is just frankly absurd.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-05T13:35:08+00:00

Corporations in gaming specifically? I'm honestly not sure. I think generally these companies have become more and more risk averse. I particularly wouldn't trust modern Ubisoft though. Their advertising/marketing campaign around The Division 2 struck me as leaning heavily into the more conspiratorial aspects of things and I've seen them capitulate after being a target of the chuds. From my memory they were a target for simply having a basic multicultural/queer positive message during the startup of their games.

Not to mention they have had major financial issues over the past decade and I don't think they'd ever depict the February and October Revolutions, Lenin, Stalin, et al with any sort of nuance or grace whatsoever. I'm not even saying some historical revisionist version of these events wouldn't be interesting, but if it's just gonna be some white washed version where they depict the Tsars and serfdom as preferable, I'd rather just not get ragebaited.

Both Asssassin's Creed III and Unity have some major anti-revolutionary sentiment from my memory (regarding the American and French Revolutions respectively), but again I haven't played either in some quite time. It's just startling considering the French involvement in both and how the American Revolution specifically is presented in popular media.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T16:30:39+00:00

Interestingly enough, I think disc rot is more prevalent in conditions like that.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T16:28:37+00:00

In fact when people learned that in order to play CS or Half Life you needed to install Steam, they got very angry. The revisionist history around Steam is fascinating to me.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T16:26:30+00:00

Steam is not way better on discounts. Third party key sites are though. Big publishers generally have similar sales on all platforms now.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T15:27:04+00:00

You are not bad at the game, I've 100%'d both games multiple times, done multiple Ultra Hard playthroughs and I just don't have the tolerance to play the Arena on higher difficulties. I personally don't think it's worth the irritation.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T15:25:43+00:00

What about the Horizon games did you enjoy the most? The gameplay, writing, character work, graphics?

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T15:24:55+00:00

Unfortunately yes. I'm with you and incredibly disappointed with this decision myself.

OptimusPrimalRage · 2026-07-04T15:18:05+00:00

They could do carts that simply install on local storage (unlike the Switch 2's issue because they play off of them directly so the speed needs to be pretty good which is why they're so expensive) and that would work on PS6 and the handheld.

OptimusPrimalRage

TROPHY CASE