The creator of the Disgaea series, Sohei Niikawa, believes that Sony has not sufficiently understood what physical editions of games really mean to the people who appreciate them. His reaction comes after the announcement that the Japanese giant plans to stop production of physical discs in January 2028, a decision that has drawn a lot of criticism, even though sales of boxed games have been declining for years.
Niikawa admits that there is a business logic behind such a move, but stresses that physical releases often have sentimental value for fans. For many gamers, their favorite boxed game is not just a product, but a keepsake, an item they can keep, display on a shelf, or take to an event to be signed by the author.
Sony is canceling physical discs, and the creator of the Disgaea series claims that Sony does not understand its gaming fans at all
Speaking to Noisy Pixel at the Anime Expo event, Niikawa said that physical games can become precious objects associated with something important to the player. After signing, the fan can take them home, display them and decorate the room with them. This is exactly why, according to him, physical games have a meaning that cannot be reduced to sales statistics alone.
Niikawa thinks that Sony’s approach seems cold, like a decision based solely on the numbers in the table, without understanding the core of gaming culture and the relationship that fans have with their collections. His most provocative message was that if Sony is already going so far as to do away with physical packaging, then it might as well do away with hardware, because a TV would be enough for streaming games.
With that statement, Niikawa is obviously alluding to cloud gaming and the idea that if games no longer exist in physical form, part of the reason for preserving the traditional experience of playing a gaming console disappears. However, there’s still a big difference between streaming and running games locally, especially when it comes to image quality, command responsiveness, and gameplay reliability.
The broader point of his criticism, however, remains clear. Physical editions may no longer be the most commercially profitable part of the gaming industry, but for a part of the audience they still represent an important part of identity. Collectors, longtime fans and gamers who like to own their favorite titles have a hard time accepting the idea of everything becoming just a digital license tied to an account and servers.
Sony, of course, like any big company has to monitor the market and profitability. But Niikawa’s reaction is a reminder that gaming isn’t just a sales chart. For many players, the box, disc, sleeve and signature of the author have a value that a digital library will never be able to replace, writes Pushsquare.