How PlayStation should have handled the news about going all-digital – Reader’s Feature

With Sony still under siege from fans angry about abandoning physical media for the PS5, a reader describes what he thinks they should do to placate their critics.

Sony with its PlayStation brand has not exactly been popular with its recent decision to go all-digital by 2028. This choice not only affects anyone who prefers physical media but also those who strongly support video game history preservation. With physical media you can play your games on other accounts and do not need to be online to download a copy of the game, but instead can install the game from the disc. Also, you are able to play this game on other PlayStation consoles should anything happen to your console, if it breaks down.

Sony has failed to take into account that if you own digital games they can be lost on your account, should anything happen to it, and if your hard drive goes on your PlayStation console you have to redownload these games. While going all digital would be convenient for Sony it has to many current flaws with it and Sony has rushed this out too fast and too soon.

So what could be done by Sony to win over trust from gamers and to persuade more people to endorse and support the slow transfer from physical to digital media, without affecting stores who sell physical media?

Automatic physical media to digital media transfer licence

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X has a great feature that allows players to insert any Xbox disc that is supported, to download a free digital copy of the game if it is on the store. Sony needs to do this, as it gives physical media supporters, and stores who rely on physical media, a way to continue their trade after 2028.

Contact previous and existing developers to offer digital versions of their games

If older games are not available digitally then Sony should be in talks with their creators, if they are still around, to offer digital versions of these games so that they can be sold to others who don’t have them. This would be another great perk for players and would help people over time accept digital media if these options continue to be supported, which would also be a great help to games stores who rely on physical media.

Reduce the prices of digital versions of games from time to time

Sony’s digital prices could be reduced to allow better deals for gamers who are reluctant about digital media and for those who feel digital game prices are unfair. Offering reductions on games, even if temporary, would also be a great way to persuade others to consider owning some digital games. It would show that Sony is listening to its customers’ concerns and is not being greedy with its prices and would convince fans they are taking this seriously.

Create a new studio for the preservation of PlayStation games

One other good way for Sony to win people over to digital is to create a studio that is dedicated to the preservation of its PlayStation games library. This studio could work with developers and publishers who did great PlayStation classics of the past and help get them remastered, which with it being a Sony studio could get around a lot of licence issues as well as save time in getting them released more quickly. This would show gamers that Sony supports video game preservation and give fans something to be proud of while also accepting a digital future.

Right now, Sony has gone about this the wrong way. Sony’s choices were made too fast and too soon and engaged at the wrong time. These factors are all going to go against them and I can’t see this working out in helping them sell enough PlayStation 6 consoles. Instead, it will only deter more people from buying a PlayStation 6 and they will only stick with their current consoles for longer.

Unless Sony does these things, I can’t see this working out too well for them and most gamers won’t bother to buy a PlayStation 6 without the security of knowing their physical media purchases are protected.

By reader gaz be rotten (gamertag)

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