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[consoul]

It's hard to know at this point whether Sony are exploring some kind of Operation Winback where they offer a better digital future to address disgruntled players' concerns or if they're just gonna double down on the current shitty digital situation and say fuck y'all.

What could be a mutually acceptable solution?
How about this:

PS6 games are digital only and the PS6 console ships with no optical drive.

An optional disc drive (sold separately) can be added for backward compatibility only. Existing discs (PS1 thru PS5) can be played via the add-on disc drive.

A purchased digital game license grants usage in perpetuity, such that the game cannot be revoked, deactivated or removed from your account, for as long as you hold the license. Redownloads of purchased digital games are available to the license holder account for as long as Sony shall live.

Your account is secure. No more social engineering PlayStation support center account theft business. Effective security must be implemented.

Your digital license to a game can be transferred ...at a cost. From one month after the launch of a game, you can opt to sell your game license. You choose the price (above a set minimum price floor). When bought by another user, the game is deactivated from your account and activated on the buyers account. 50% of the sale price goes to Sony. The other 50% goes into your PSN wallet.

Digital game licenses cannot be transferred for free. This prevents used game sales from happening outside PSN.

It goes without saying that the consumer would still be losing a lot here, but let's be real: the only way a used game market can work in an all digital future is if Sony take a solid cut on every sale. They'll have to pass on a portion of it to the publisher of the game you sold and the publishers of whatever games you buy with the credit.

Could you live with this? What other ideas could work? There has to be a way forward that is better than the current mess.

 

[tusharngf]

Storefront discounts

Low priced hardware

U turn on disk fiasco

Better refund policy

More quality first party titles

More jrpgs

 

[MacReady13]

How about just add the disc drive as an add on for PS6 and continue producing discs forever? It's not like no one is buying physical media. It still sells. Is it worth losing hundreds of thousands if not potentially millions of customers all for trying to remove something because you don't reap 100% of profits? Greedy fuckers. Lose physical and they lose me. Simple as that.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Sony doesn't have to do anything. The "mob" is just a small pack of yapping little dogs. The vast majority of players are casuals and couldn't care less. To Sony, the people whining are nothing more than bug splatter on the windshield - the car keeps driving regardless.

 

[Ozzie666]

Actually start working for their respect and profits instead of just coasting off digitial taxes and microtransactions on their subscription service? Remember what got them to the dance and maybe, just fucking maybe. Have a look at what happend for the PS3 and Vita, remember the bad times.

Stop thinking short term for the shareholders. They don't care about your long term heatlh or growth.

Free on-line play without needing a subscription would go a long way to compete with Steam. If you won't reduce hardware prices, this is something you could do. Then you might actually see how loyal and happy your user base is.

 

[MacReady13]

Sony doesn't have to do anything. The "mob" is just a small pack of yapping little dogs. The vast majority of players are casuals and couldn't care less. To Sony, the people whining are nothing more than bug splatter on the windshield - the car keeps driving regardless.

Let's wait and see about that. Sony keep this bullshit up and I'm gone. And I know of a few others that'll do the same. And if we are doing it, I'm sure there'll be plenty others thinking the same.

And it isn't just about cutting out physical media in gaming. This has far wider consequences. The days of owning anything you buy are numbered. How ANYONE can be happy with that is, quite frankly astonishing.

 

[winjer]

Stop making GaaS and go back to quality single player experiences.

 

[Cumulus]

They'd have to either solve the digital ownership problem or the price monopoly problem.
Both of which is not going to happen because they don't want it to happen.

 

[Witchilich]

Cartridges for PS6

 

[Tobimacoss]

Cartridges for PS6

Agreed, everyone should adopt MicroSD card based cartridges and key cards.

And to make things better, do an on demand ordering system where you can get entire game with latest updates files. Baseball card sized metal cases with custom cover art.

Charge $10-$20 more if need be, but that way users have am option.

 

[PeteBull]

What could be a mutually acceptable solution?

Sony interest is to maximalize monetizing customers, with that strategy its obvious that majority of customers(the ones on the poorer side, who buy discs, and cant afford alldigital future) wont even consider buying ps6, it is what it is, bro.
Expect ps6 to have hard cap of 50m units(definitely wont sell more, likely will sell even less units), and at the same time it to be more profitable from ps4/ps5 gen, just no more 20m or even 10m sellers on ps6(not talking multiplat or xgen games, but pure ps6 exclusives).
2028 onwards sony decided to move like highend escort, such escort doesnt provide service for ur avg(broke) brotha, but for top10% of potential customers, ofc the ones who are budget concious arent even considered, and there is no veteran discounts there

Sony themselfs decided to cut over half of potential playerbase to focus on the rich ones only, coz suits from HQ calculated that will bring more profit to the company(and they likely arent wrong).

 

[DarkBatman]

Wow, somehow I initially read the thread title as "Who could Sony do to win back the mob?" and was completely confused...

 

[Loomy]

Wait 18 months

 

[Durin]

The smart thing would be at least to improve PSN, and address the basic stuff that's weaker on it vs other digital storefronts.

Unfortunately normies are stupid, and will trade a lot away for convenience and the next entry in a series to consoom. Only time they care is when it negatively effects them directly, rather than things that hurt choice for others, or picturing potential problems down the line.

Curious how Nintendo will do in the next couple years though, since they'll be the only console left with physical unless Microsoft wants to be interesting.

 

[kaizenkko]

Well, I guess most people who are complaining want they to turn back about the physical games decision. I think this is what they can do. And probably just turn back discs will be easy and less expensive than entirely change PSNs policies.

If Sony wants to get over this: apologies and reverse course. That's what fans are expecting.

Regardless of being a small group complaining, it's not ending good for Sony and if it stand for months, they will be force to reverse course. Imagine promoting a first-party game, State of Play or the PS6 when all the comments in Twitter, YouTube and Instagram are full of "no disc, no buy".

As I said before: short to medium term they maybe be safe. Long term? I doubt.

 

[deriks]

Physical media backup, with no shenanigans

 

[Gonzito]

Bring back physical media and remove wokeness from their games

 

[VitoNotVito]

There are 172,000 members on GAF. This is roughly 0.2% of the PS5 install base.

Let's just assume - for the sake of this conversation - that every single GAF member loves PlayStation and physical games. Let's also assume every single GAF user will leave PlayStation for PC/whatever else. It is 0.2% of their install base. Even if the average GAF user spends 5 times as much on games, you guys would make 1% of their business. Probably not even that, given the lower margins. They really do not care.

It's this noisy tiny minority on GAF/era/Twitter that might do some damage to the brand, but will do very little to their market dominance or market share, considering Xbox is dead (and I bet it will be digital too).

It's very different times now, we are not in 2013 with Xbox One.

 

[kazuyamishima]

Activision launched two old ass COD games a few days ago and they're topping the PSN.

Guess what? A lot of people resubbed to PS Plus after that.

 

[sono]

Content never removed or if it has to be removed always refund at least at purchase price.

Competitve pricing hardware and sw

 

[64gigabyteram]

Bring back physical media. That's all they have to do. No one asked to lose physical.

 

[StueyDuck]

release a top-tier game like they use to, everyone forgets everything when they having fun with the new thing.

if they wanna bring everyone back (i really think people are over playing how many people have actually left the Playstation ecosystem) then they'll continue to make top-tier games like they did once upon a time.

 

[Minari]

Nothing. Some ppl just want to hate.
And there are losera out there shitting out content for those ppl every few hours.

Imagine living a life like that lol

 

[GymWolf]

Make digital cost 50 dollars at launch since now they are saving all the money that is needed for the phisical version or make it in a way that you can EASILY sell the code\license somehow.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Trading Cards.

Works for NV.

 

[The_Mike]

Sony doesn't have to do anything. The "mob" is just a small pack of yapping little dogs. The vast majority of players are casuals and couldn't care less. To Sony, the people whining are nothing more than bug splatter on the windshield - the car keeps driving regardless.

And Sony knows that in the end they are still gonna buy the next playstation anyway

 

[Sohurmk833]

And Sony knows that in the end they are still gonna buy the next playstation anyway

Nobody except the hardest fanboys is going to buy the next Playstation.

 

[The_Mike]

Nobody except the hardest fanboys is going to buy the next Playstation.

And why do you think that?

 

[Sohurmk833]

And why do you think that?

Because it´s going to be $1000+

 

[yurinka]

They don't need to do anything, physical game sales only gives generates them under 2% of their revenue, a percentage that over time has been decreasing and will continue decreasing. To end physical sales won't affect their business at all.

It's like when moved from cartridges to discs, from dpad to analog nubs, from pixel art to polygons, or when digital games, DLCs, microtransactions, passes, GaaS, F2P, casual games or mobile games were introduced: some people cried and complained hard, but almost all people adapted pretty quickly.

What people should do instead of complaining is to spend their money on buying PS physical games instead of in addons. Physical games don't end in PS because of an evil executive, they end because game purchases keep moving almost completely from physical to digital, and because the revenue (so where people votes with the wallet) kept moving from buying games to subs and specially to addons, to the point now physical game purchases are a tiny part of the business.

Same goes with their bet on GaaS: companies bet on GaaS because they see that the majority of the money and time spent by players is on GaaS, a percentage that keeps growing every year since a couple generations ago. If players would spend most of their time and money on non-GaaS, companies wouldn't bet on GaaS.

There are 172,000 members on GAF. This is roughly 0.2% of the PS5 install base.

Many people who are in GAF, or -outside GAF- who throws shit at whatever Sony does, aren't PS customers and never will be because they hate PS and Sony.

Some people just complains about whatever Sony does. In this case, some of the people who complains about PS stopping the support of physical games don't buy physical games. Or at least not in PS.

It's very different times now, we are not in 2013 with Xbox One.

Yes, PS has now the largest active userbase and yearly revenue any console brand ever had. Not the case of 2013 with XBO at all.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

I'll accept nothing less than a retraction of ending physical discs.

I will go from never buying a PS6 to buying it day one.

 

[Toots]

To win back the mob sony has to kick up more than they are asked and never question a capo's orders.
To win back its customers sony needs to pull its head out of its capitalists ass and put customers above shareholders.
Anyway 4$ is a pound.

 

[archangelmorph]

I agree with this guy:

 

[TastyPastry]

i bet hulst thinks he just needs to make horizon 3 a launch title and people are going to jump on board

 

[yurinka]

I'll accept nothing less than a retraction of ending physical discs.

I will go from never buying a PS6 to buying it day one.

There's no reason for a retraction, costs to produce and ship physical games keep rising and physical game sales kept decreasing until representing now under 2% of their revenue, and in a handful years would be almost 0% anyways.

And well, even if they'd do it you wouldn't buy a PS.

i bet hulst thinks he just needs to make horizon 3 a launch title and people are going to jump on board

Hulst is only in charge of first party games, he isn't in charge of the platform or store. The decision of ending physical games doesn't depend on him, it's a Nishino thing.

Sony themselfs decided to cut over half of potential playerbase

Purchase of physical games generated only under 2% of Sony's revenue last quarter, and an important portion of that were old games.

And if we limit the comparision to game units sold (ignoring F2P or subs), it was 85% digital vs 15% physical.

The potential userbase interested in physical isn't "over half" at all.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

They don't need to do anything.

The pricing of the new hardware, of the all-digital games, and of PS+ will all be carefully tailored to squeeze the remaining audience for all it's worth without having to win back a few million (?) people who would probably not buy new hardware at the upcoming price anyway. The remaining customers will pay dearly for the honor of getting fleeced by their favorite corporate overlords even more than before.

Get used to consoles being a luxury item. The kids are all playing games that run on toasters anyway, and GAF's savviest tell me all the time that that's what publishers are after, not the dinosaurs who still want single-player games that cost too much to make.

 

[Kotaro]

No disc, no buy, no compromise

 

[protonion]

I have a big ps4/ps5 collection that will get bigger until the end of discs.

Even if they add a disc drive for BC, it is nice to be there as an option if my launch ps5 dies.

But even then, PS6 will be just for BC. I will not purchase any games.

 

[Felessan]

For mob - nothing. Crowd will calm down and go back to where it was
Physical media enthusiasts may leave, stay or relapse, will not change much

Because it´s going to be $1000+

Price eventually will go down
And anyway, alternatives are just as expensive, so it's either the whole consumer electronics market crashed hard or there will be place for playstation

 

[bitbydeath]

i bet hulst thinks he just needs to make Bloodborne a launch title and people are going to jump on board

FTFY

 

[Sephimoth]

Drop the arrogance. It's unearned.

Physical options instead of greed

 

[Topher]

The mob just wants games like Fortnite and Sony wants a mob that only likes games like Fortnite

I say let them have each other

 

[Baemono]

Go back on the disc decision.
They have data showing people are going back to physical, this decision is terrible.

 

[Sohurmk833]

Price eventually will go down
And anyway, alternatives are just as expensive, so it's either the whole consumer electronics market crashed hard or there will be place for playstation

It hasn´t gone down this gen. Quite the opposite.
The alternative is to just keep playing on your old hardware. Not like it makes a big difference. CoD, FIFA and Madden will all look fine on PS5 even 10 years from now.

 

[JCK75]

If Sony wants me to buy their games the only way to do this is to release them on Steam.

 

[bad guy]

Anyone here abstaing from GTA6 because it's discless?
*chirping noises*
I thought so.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

There's no reason for a retraction, costs to produce and ship physical games keep rising and physical game sales kept decreasing until representing now under 2% of their revenue, and in a handful years would be almost 0% anyways.

And well, even if they'd do it you wouldn't buy a PS.

??? I've owned every PlayStation since PS1 homie. Only Playstation products I ever skipped were PSVR2 and PS5 Pro.

And that 3% revenue number is misleading because don't they factor all digital revenue into their total revenue before subtracting the publishers 70% cut? I could be wrong but I could've sworn I read that here somewhere.

AI search says this.

Sony reports full gross revenue for digital game sales in their financial reports, rather than just their net cut.

Under accounting standards (IFRS 15), Sony classifies itself as the principal for digital transactions, meaning it records the entire sale price of third-party games as revenue before paying the publisher's share. In contrast, for physical disc sales, Sony often records only its net royalty cut (typically 15–30%) as revenue, which makes digital revenue appear disproportionately larger than physical unit sales might suggest.

I don't know, when it comes to $70 games, reporting 100% of that revenue from digital sales vs only 15% from physical sales sounds like a gaslighting campaign to me.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Sony has been awful for years. This announcement was the last in a long list of terrible anti-consumer actions.

- Poor online secutiry

- Banning / locking accounts for random reasons.

- AI agents for CS, which makes it impossible to deal with them. Like arguing with a retarded child.

- Insane price hikes

- Needing a subscription to store / transfer your save files. HOW IS THIS ACCEPTABLE FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!

- Massive quality drop in first party games.

- Controllers that break easily

- Absolute lack of communication with players.

- Killing physical format.


People acting as if Sony did nothing wrong till a few days ago. They should reverse ALL of that in order to recover some trust. Fuck them. Terrible influence for the industry, just like Microsoft. I'd pay a thousand euros just to see them burn.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Sony doesn't have to do anything. The "mob" is just a small pack of yapping little dogs. The vast majority of players are casuals and couldn't care less. To Sony, the people whining are nothing more than bug splatter on the windshield - the car keeps driving regardless.

This little dog has supported Sony since day one buying multiple consoles of each generation and a lot of their controllers and they have lost me, have zero use for a PS6 that can't play discs especially with Playstations first party library having been so weak this gen

Easy pass for this yapper

 

[Griffon]

Nothing. Digital already won. The few people complaining are a minority and soon enough they'll move on.

Now, if Sony stopped making shitty DEI infested game, that would be much better. But that's another thing.