PlayStation Disc Drive Signals Brave New World

Remember how to share a game? You take your disc, and you hand it to your friend. Cue applause. But with a rumoured new PlayStation 5 ditching the disc drive and making it a bonus purchase, we’re officially entering a brave new digital world.

I say new. I don’t really mean new. Digital games have been the norm for quite a while now. There’s no doubt in my mind that the used game section in CEX or GAME is half of what it used to be. And prices often rival new releases anyway.

But in making a digital-only console and offering up discs as an optional extra, Sony are expertly creating a paradigm shift. They’re not taking away discs, they’re offering up the option to not use them. And most people won’t. They’re not now.

By making people have to expend effort and money to get the hardware, and that’s presuming it’ll be in high supply, Sony are making digital the defacto norm. Which is impressive considering how rare their current digital offering seems to be. To the point where it’s easy to presume the digital PlayStation 5 exists mostly for the “FROM” logo on posters.

A PS5 Slim, cheaper and easier to get hold of, is a killer idea. Take out the disc drive, add it as an optional extra (with an appropriate mark up) and that also seems to be a killer idea. Everybody wins.

Well, with the exception of those still holding onto discs. But, as this move shows, they are going the way of the dinosaur.

Disc Drive Dinosaurs

All this is coming by way of Tom Henderson. He has been reporting on the disc drive PlayStation 5 for a little while now.

And it’s a great idea for a slim version of the console. But how important will the disc drive be going forward? Will the PlayStation 6 have one? Will it now be seen as a premium feature on a device, worthy of extra cost? In the face of Xbox’s ever-growing Game Pass, I suppose positing the idea that “real gamers use a disc drive” would make for an interesting marketing campaign. I don’t think it’d work – digital is much too built-in – but it’d be an interesting stance nonetheless.

If it becomes a permanent part of PlayStation’s ecosystem, it marks another important change too. It signals, once and for all, that Sony isn’t willing to hold up the gaming shops anymore. This could have a couple of interesting effects going forward.

I mean, first of all, Microsoft would drop disc support immediately. I can imagine Nintendo trying to keep a physical presence, but how much success would they have if they were literally the only ones selling discs in any volume? Nintendo somehow exists on the strength of their exclusives – GAME isn’t going to be as lucky.

But also, what will this do to pricing? Sony can’t undercut brick-and-mortar stores. But with brick-and-mortar stores out of the picture, they could potentially decrease prices.

Or, more likely, increase profit margins without changing anything else. Which in its own way is a good thing.

All pricing would be reliant on the owner of the store. That’s scarier than it sounds, because realistically if God of War 3 retailed from $120, you could just jump on PC or buy an Xbox and get cheaper games. You’re only absolutely locked in if you absolutely must play God of War 3 day one.

Either way, this is all speculation on an unconfirmed piece of hardware. It’s fantasy, but interesting all the same.