Sony's latest decision surrounding game discs is under the scanner as a petition related to it started by a video game store in Winnipeg has gained hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Not a lot of gamers are happy about PlayStation going completely digital, ditching the age-old disc mechanism of booting up video games.

And PNP Games, a Winnipeg store, has opted to give voice to the disgruntled, starting a petition to keep the discs, named 'Don't Kill the Disc'. This petition has now gained over 320,000 signatures.

PNP Products and Promotions Manager Lee Skwarek highlighted that demand for physical copies still exists, according to CBC News.

Skwarek pointed out, "We definitely know that physical isn't dead. We know there is demand. The goal is to keep a physical option on the table for those who want it."

Just the number of signatures on the petition shows that PNP Games, which owns three stores in Winnipeg, has a point.

On July 1, Sony announced their plans to stop producing physical copies of games for PlayStation starting January 2028.

And while there is plenty of time for people to adjust to the new reality, the issue is glaringly more concerning because of the way digital purchases work.

PNP Games manager highlights problem with PlayStation's digital purchases

Digital purchases, by nature, are like licensing agreements. And we have seen Sony pull certain digital purchases from user inventory when their own licensing deal with the publishers or title owner ends.

PNP Games Products and Promotions Manager, Lee Skwarek, pointed to the same issue while speaking on the matter.

"A download code or a digital purchase is very much a licence," he told CBC. "If you read that small print that pops up when you're making those purchases, it lets you know it can be revoked. Unless you own that actual disc, you don't own it."

In the recent June case with Studio Canal content, Sony announced the removal of all 551 of its media content pieces from user libraries from September 1 without any update on potential compensation.

In such a scenario, if no compensation is provided, the money invested in purchasing the title is gone, along with the removed content. This makes the entire process seem identical to licensing the content, not owning it.

It will be interesting to see how Sony will deal with the petition, and whether hundreds of thousands of signatures are enough for them to rethink their decision.

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Written by

Abhisek Bajaj

Edited by

Yash Kotak