The HP Podcast (From Handsome Phantom)
Jul 2, 2026 · 1 hr 15 min · 13 segments
Tonight we're talking about PlayStation doing away with physical games, Xbox testing disc-to-digital features, vibe coding troubles, and plenty more! \*\*\*\** Watch the show LIVE Wednesday nights…
News story number one, PlayStation disc production is ending in January of 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles.
PlayStation says on the official blog, in response to shifting trends in consumer preference, New games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only, as consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital physical game disc production, for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January of 2028.
Following this date, new games will be available on the PS Store and at retailers in digital formats only.
This transition has no impact on games that already released or will be releasing prior to January 2028 in disc format.
Well, we knew that there were going to be digital exclusive consoles.
We were pretty certain of that.
Nobody told us, but we kind of knew.
But in order for you to get a disc made for PlayStation or Xbox, you have to get them to approve it.
And then you have to go through licensed people who are allowed to print those that follow the formats that for the consoles and PlayStation is just saying, guess what? If it's coming to our platform, it's not on a disc anymore.
It's kind of crazy.
End of an era, if you will.
Yeah, as you say, we've kind of seen this coming for a long time.
And it doesn't make today any easier, though, to finally hear one of the major players announce that, you know, sort of hit that first nail in the coffin.
There's been a lot of talk on the internets about who and how this is going to affect negatively.
I want to start with...
Who's going to win as a result of this? And that is the retro video game industry.
Anecdotally, I can say I feel like there's a lot more mom and pop shops that are popping up around here.
But I feel like the more that the kind of modern gaming landscape pushes towards all digital, the more the preservation and people wanting to get into retro gaming is kind of popping off.
You're starting to see the prices creep up.
You know, GameCube stuff has always been expensive, but some of the stuff that's slightly newer and some of the stuff that's slightly older, that's always been kind of plentiful and cheap.
It's starting to creep up in value.
So, you know, I know a lot of people are panicking right now.
Um, this is affecting the industry in a lot of different ways, but I think there are people who are going to benefit off this.
News story number one, PlayStation disc production is ending in January of 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles.
PlayStation says on the official blog, in response to shifting trends in consumer preference, New games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only, as consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital physical game disc production, for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January of 2028.
Following this date, new games will be available on the PS Store and at retailers in digital formats only.
This transition has no impact on games that already released or will be releasing prior to January 2028 in disc format.
Well, we knew that there were going to be digital exclusive consoles.
We were pretty certain of that.
Nobody told us, but we kind of knew.
But in order for you to get a disc made for PlayStation or Xbox, you have to get them to approve it.
And then you have to go through licensed people who are allowed to print those that follow the formats that for the consoles and PlayStation is just saying, guess what? If it's coming to our platform, it's not on a disc anymore.
It's kind of crazy.
End of an era, if you will.
Yeah, as you say, we've kind of seen this coming for a long time.
And it doesn't make today any easier, though, to finally hear one of the major players announce that, you know, sort of hit that first nail in the coffin.
There's been a lot of talk on the internets about who and how this is going to affect negatively.
I want to start with...
Who's going to win as a result of this? And that is the retro video game industry.
Anecdotally, I can say I feel like there's a lot more mom and pop shops that are popping up around here.
But I feel like the more that the kind of modern gaming landscape pushes towards all digital, the more the preservation and people wanting to get into retro gaming is kind of popping off.
You're starting to see the prices creep up.
You know, GameCube stuff has always been expensive, but some of the stuff that's slightly newer and some of the stuff that's slightly older, that's always been kind of plentiful and cheap.
It's starting to creep up in value.
So, you know, I know a lot of people are panicking right now.
Um, this is affecting the industry in a lot of different ways, but I think there are people who are going to benefit off this.
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