Shawn Layden Questions PlayStation Forcing An All-Digital Future

Even PlayStation's Former Chairman Thinks Ditching Discs Is A "Significant Brand Hit" Published Oct 6, 2026, 7:07 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account PlayStation has announced plans to stop putting games on discs starting in 2028, and despite fierce backlash, it isn’t backing down. It’s a decision that continues to confuse those who buy and play its games, and even the studio’s former chairman can’t really get his head around why it is pushing for an all-digital future quite so forcefully. Even Shawn Layden Doesn't Get It Shawn Layden worked at Sony for more than 30 years, aiding in the production and distribution of every single PlayStation console, and was chairman of SIE Worldwide for the final three years of his tenure before leaving the company in 2019. There aren’t many who know the inner workings of PlayStation better than he does, and even he can’t quite understand what’s going on behind the scenes. “We are an inquisitive collecting sort of people, and we like to show off our stuff. So I think for those reasons I don’t agree with that decision,” Layden said during a recent appearance on The Expansion Pass (thanks to VGC for the transcription). Those comments came after Layden admitted PlayStation’s move away from discs was likely a “heavily spreadsheeted decision”, but even then, he’s still struggling to understand the thinking behind it. It’s what digital ownership represents for those who still prefer to buy physical, and even many of those who largely stick to digital downloads, that Layden believes poses the biggest threat to the PlayStation brand. “I think this is probably the more insidious aspect to it, is that it changes the conversation [to] ‘do you own a game or do you have access to a digital asset’, right?" Layden questions. “If you can’t sell a thing, that means you don’t own a thing. And if you don’t own it, then what are you buying?” You Don't Own Digital Games PlayStation It’s the argument that’s at the center of all this, and one PlayStation has already tried to fight back against. Its lawyers have claimed that everyone who buys a digital game knows that they don’t really own it, posing the somewhat baffling argument that that’s obvious because multiple people can’t own a digital version of something at the same time. Hoping someone has explained to PlayStation’s legal team what a digital copy is, or that the judge overseeing the case in which that argument was made knows, at least. “That’s a whole lot of brand hit and reputation bite,” Layden continues when discussing the imminent future where PlayStation users will be forced to buy digital versions of games whether they like it or not. “That’s a significant brand hit, and I hope it made sense to them.” There will still be codes in boxes from January 2028 onwards, but as it stands, PlayStation games will no longer be released on discs. The brand hit Layden is referring to is already being felt, with every comment section even remotely connected to anything PlayStation filled with angry people who don’t want to be part of an all-digital future. That said, a PlayStation blackout that was organized to send a message to those in charge seemingly had almost no effect on the platform’s numbers, suggesting that those upset enough to take action might be a vocal minority.