Raging against the digiverse hellscape
Like most people, I’m feeling pretty pissed off about the recent news that Sony would be officially ceasing physical disc production on all new games released after January 2028, but it doesn’t really help when I’m being bombarded with memes and reaction pieces in my social media feeds. In fact, if anything, it only makes me feel even more pissed off and sad because I’m constantly being reminded of this bullshit. Yes, I know it’s big news and it’s bad news to boot, so naturally, godforsaken the algorithm is going to be pushing this shit nonstop for the foreseeable future, but fucking hell, there’s only so many ways you can say the same thing over and over and over again.
Don’t get me wrong. I wholeheartedly agree with what’s being said in response to the news. I agree that this is a massive gut punch to both gamers and physical media enthusiasts alike and as a result, I’m now massively concerned about how this will affect the industry. I was already worried after last week’s reveal about GTA VI’s supposed “physical release” will be nothing more than a box with a download code because I had a bad feeling that if Rockstar could try something like this and more or less get away with, then you can guarantee that other companies will try their luck pulling similar stunts. I’m sure to most people, this doesn’t matter all that much, but to anybody who’s a gaming enthusiast or a physical media collector, I don’t even think I have to explain why this is all such terrible news. Aside from the fact that you don’t actually own digital media — you just own a code and a licence to run it, which can expire at any time — it’s also much more vulnerable to being erased from existence. Aside from the litany of shows and movies that are regularly yanked from streaming platforms, I’m sure some of us still remember the shitshow regarding PT and its removal from the PlayStation Store. There’s always that inherent fragility with films, shows and games only receiving digital releases with no physical options.
That been said, I’m genuinely scundered as hell with constantly seeing nothing but post after post about this fucking fiasco anytime I scroll through Facebook or Instagram. It’s exhausting, it’s numbing and… quite frankly, I don’t have any use for that shit right now. I think it’s ideal to limit my time on social media and focus on other things to keep myself distracted… at least until the next bit of news shake things up and sparks outrage.
