Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa thinks Sony should not just abandon physical games — it should abandon consoles too. His argument is blunt: once a platform stops selling physical packages, the console becomes less of a player-owned device and more of a storefront with buttons, so the cleanest version of that strategy is a TV-connected box, not a PlayStation.
On July 1, Sony announced its intent to move away from the production and sale of physical game media. That means the future PlayStation model is being built around downloads, subscriptions, and digital storefront purchases rather than discs sitting in retail boxes.
Sohei Niikawa pushed back hard on that direction during an appearance at Anime Expo 2026, where he was promoting Demons' Night Fever. He said, “From a purely business perspective, I can understand why the people at Sony would make that decision. However, the executives who decided it have probably never experienced coming to an event like Anime Expo and having someone approach them with a physical game to ask for an autograph.”
Then he made the joke land like a threat: “If they're going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware, too. A television would be enough. Why would you need the console?”
Sony's discless plan is already underway
Niikawa is not making this argument as a random nostalgia post. He is the creator of Disgaea, one of the most recognizable Japanese strategy RPG franchises, and he understands platform economics better than most outside the hardware business. His point is not “discs are cheaper.” They are not.
His point is that physical media changes the relationship between a platform holder and the people buying from it. A disc is a receipt, a collector's object, a resale item, and sometimes the only copy a player can actually hold. Remove that, and the transaction becomes cleaner for Sony but thinner for everyone else.
Physical games are not just delivery media
The strongest part of Niikawa's argument is that physical games are not only a way to deliver software. They are also a visible boundary around platform power. A disc can be sold, lent, stored, displayed, signed, archived, or traded. A download is tied to an account, a storefront, and whatever terms the platform holder decides to enforce later.
That convention anecdote matters because it shows the human side of the format. Someone asking a developer for an autograph on a physical copy is not just buying a product. They are collecting a piece of the game's culture, and that culture has always been easier to touch when the package exists.
For collectors, physical editions are shelf inventory. For preservationists, discs are a backup against account loss, regional storefront changes, and server-dependent licensing. For regular players, they can be a way to buy used games, track down older releases, or get physical bundles that are cheaper than digital prices.
The business case for dropping discs is real
Sony has a clear reason to make this move. Physical games cost money to manufacture, ship, warehouse, return, and manage. Retailers need shelf space. Regional packaging creates extra complexity. Damaged discs, bad batches, inventory mistakes, and piracy controls all add friction.
Digital distribution gives Sony more control over pricing, bundles, launch availability, and post-release updates. It also keeps players inside the PlayStation Store, where every purchase can become another data point and another chance to sell a subscription, a bundle, or a timed offer.
That is why the company is pushing the market in this direction. Digital is not a side feature anymore. It is the model that lets Sony optimize the whole business around recurring revenue and tighter ecosystem control.
The console is becoming a storefront with buttons
This is the uncomfortable middle ground. PC gaming has normalized account-bound libraries, but it also gives players more hardware choice, more third-party storefronts, and more room for mods or sideloading. Consoles have traditionally offered the opposite bargain: simpler hardware, curated software, and less fuss.
If Sony removes physical media, the console gets closer to the PC account model while keeping console-level control over pricing and storefront behavior. That is not the same as open PC gaming, and it is not the same as the
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