DVDs and Blu-rays of movies or series and video games on disc were long part of everyday life. But the way many people watch movies and buy video games has fundamentally changed in recent years. Streaming services and digital stores now dominate the market so clearly that more and more companies are adjusting their strategies with consequences for consumers.
Current developments suggest that physical media will continue to lose relevance in the near future. While this does bring advantages for customers, it simultaneously raises questions about long-term availability. Among collectors and fans of physical media, news from gaming in recent days and weeks has caused considerable discontent. Industry giants are now focusing purely on digital distribution channels.
Sony, Microsoft, and Rockstar Say Goodbye to Discs
What some may have already feared became officially known during the pre-order launch of Grand Theft Auto VI. While a version of the game is supposed to be sold in retail stores, a physical disc will no longer be included in the plastic packaging. The boxes for what is likely to be the biggest game of this generation will only contain codes that can be redeemed to download the game. A decision that will probably be no different for potential future installments or other titles from publisher Rockstar Games in the future.
Industry analysts consider this step understandable. Digital sales are cheaper for manufacturers because production, storage, and shipping are eliminated. Moreover, sales of physical media in the video game sector are steadily declining. This is a decline that has been observable in gaming for more than a decade, explains analyst Mat Piscatella according to an IGN report. Daniel Ahmad from market research firm Niko Partners explains that while around 70 million discs were sold for PlayStation last year, this only represents about 20 percent of sales - and the number is also inflated due to game bundles. In his view, other publishers are also considering getting rid of the disc.
Sales in Digital Formats
The development is even more pronounced at Sony. The company officially announced on July 1 that it will stop producing physical discs for newly released PlayStation games starting in January 2028. New titles will be offered exclusively digitally in the future - or in retail stores in digital formats. Presumably this refers to the already mentioned packaging that will no longer contain a physical disc. Sony justified the move by citing the increasing prevalence of digital purchases.
The same trend is emerging at Microsoft. According to media reports, such as from The Verge, the software giant is also said to be considering releasing the next Xbox console - internally traded under the codename Project Helix - presumably without a disc drive. This would mean Microsoft will likely follow competitor Sony and abolish the physical disc. Prior to this, it could at least be made possible for gamers to digitize their existing Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S games with a new feature.
Movies and Series Also Purchased Less Frequently on Disc
The market for physical media is shrinking not only for video games. According to the German film industry's umbrella organization (SPIO), revenue in the Home Video sector in Germany increased by two percent year-over-year to around 3.7 billion euros, but already around 81 percent was attributable to streaming subscriptions. Revenue from DVDs and Blu-rays, on the other hand, declined continuously - on average by around 15 percent in each of the previous five years. The individual figures show the clear difference. In 2025, sales of DVDs generated revenue of 105 million euros, while Blu-rays brought in 113 million euros. SvoD, meaning streaming subscriptions, generated just over three billion according to these figures.
In Germany, even major Hollywood studios have withdrawn from distribution in recent years. Specialized business partners are now responsible for movies on Blu-ray or DVD. On the homepage of Plaion Pictures, formerly Koch Films, which is based in the small town of Planegg near Munich, it currently states: As part of exclusive licensing agreements, Plaion Pictures is responsible for the physical home entertainment distribution of Amazon MGM Studios, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony Pictures in Germany, Paramount and Universal in Italy, and Warner Bros. Discovery in France and Benelux. Leonine Studios announced in January 2026 that they would take over the physical home entertainment distribution for Paramount in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Digital Is Convenient, but Not Permanent
The digital variant does have advantages. For instance, it saves shelf space, and it's convenient for consumers to be able to start a game or watch a movie at the push of a button. At the same time, however, the model also has clear weaknesses. Lending or even reselling titles becomes significantly more difficult or virtually impossible. And it also creates a different kind of dependency.
If a digital store is closed or a title is removed, access to content can become difficult or completely impossible. Sony provides current examples once again: The company announced, at the same time as announcing the discontinuation of disc production, that it would gradually discontinue the sale of digital content for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. New purchases will no longer be possible in the future. Already purchased content should continue to be downloadable for now, but only for the foreseeable future. This means: At some point, you might have no access at all to the product you actually paid for, unless it's still on an old console in the closet.
Unlike a DVD or Blu-ray on the shelf, the availability of digital content depends on servers, licenses, and business decisions by providers. Just shortly before, Sony had also announced that starting September 1, 2026, hundreds of movies and series seasons from distributor StudioCanal would be deleted from users' video libraries in several European countries due to a licensing agreement. Access to the content will then fundamentally no longer be possible. Both cases illustrate the problem that with online purchases, typically only a temporary usage license is acquired. Anyone wanting to watch their digitally purchased favorite movie again in a few years might suddenly discover that the film is simply gone.
The Disc Becomes the Exception
There are still many people who value physical collections. Discs therefore probably won't disappear entirely, at least not in the near future. Instead, they will likely increasingly become a niche product that primarily collectors spend money on. High-quality special editions or limited releases, which are usually more expensive, should continue to appear for the time being.
The mass market, however, is clearly oriented. Streaming and downloads have long since become the preferred form of media consumption for many people. When manufacturers also save costs in the process, the content cannot simply be lent out, and it may even become necessary to purchase certain titles multiple times because the other version suddenly disappeared, they naturally welcome this development.
