A Dutch site conducted research on the prices of physical and digital games for the PlayStation 5 console and came to the conclusion that physical copies are incomparably cheaper.
Dutch site Tweakers conducted a survey on the prices of PlayStation 5 games in physical and digital versions to determine if discontinuing games on discs could be considered a tactic to make them more expensive.
The Dutch analyzed the sales prices of 16 PS5 games from 2022 to the present day, and followed the price trends on the Dutch market.
Research results show that physical copies of games regularly available at lower prices than in the PlayStation Store. Physical copies of games are also often discounted, and over time the price difference between a physical and a digital copy of a game can amount to and up to 40 euros.
The most prominent difference in price is visible precisely in the games of Sony Interactive Entertainment, which in the digital edition on the Dutch market they are almost never cheaper than physical disc releases.
Although this statistic is only for the Dutch market, the situation is probably similar elsewhere. This is exactly one of the reasons why PlayStation fans are protesting against Sony’s decision to end the distribution of PlayStation games on discs from 2028.
It is worth emphasizing that the games will be able to be sold in stores even after 2028, but customers will not receive a disc in the box but an activation code for the digital version. It can therefore be assumed that there will be less interest in such releases both on the side of buyers and on the side of game publishers. And if the PlayStation Store is the only place to buy games for PlayStation consoles, fans fear they could be at the mercy of game publishers.