Sony’s Disc-Free PlayStation Will Hit Low-Income Gamers Hard, Experts Say

The significance here is less about hardware than about market access: removing discs changes who can participate, not just how games are delivered. The burden falls hardest on players in regions where physical media and resale function as the de facto affordability mechanism, and where digital-only distribution collides with existing regional rules. The open question is whether the resale and second-hand market that discs sustain can be replicated digitally, or whether the shift quietly narrows the pool of buyers Sony can reach.