RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Promising looking action game Phantom Blade Zero is getting its very own State of Play, but if the reaction to Sony’s announcement is any indication, the chat is going to be overrun with angry comments about Sony’s decision to kill PlayStation discs.
Sony announced the State of Play, set for August 17 at 7pm PT / 10pm ET / August 18 at 3am UK time, across its socials and on the PlayStation Blog . As with so many PlayStation announcements these days, the replies are dominated by the continued backlash to the impending end of PlayStation disc production from 2028.
And this new State of Play — the first since Sony’s announcement sent shockwaves through the video game industry — looks set to be no different. “Need everyone to spam #NODISCNOBUY in that chat,” one person said. “Oh that chat is gonna be one for the history books,” another said. “Oh, this live stream is gonna be overloaded with people telling Sony what idiots they are for not supporting physical anymore. The message will be lost,” another predicted.
“Are you going to censor comments about your attack on physical media and gaming culture in the chat again this time?” replied X / Twitter account Does it play? , which has led the backlash online. “People have a right to be upset. Literally everyone will be off worse in the longrun. Yet you are ignoring your fans. #PhysicalGamesMatter.”
Phantom Blade Zero could be the latest game to find itself drowned out by the no disc backlash, despite it and its developer, S-Game, having nothing to do with it. Some are even wondering if Sony will turn off the chat for the State of Play, given how the comments are expected to go.
Even the comments on the PlayStation Blog itself are rough for Sony. "I think for the first time I’m skipping a State of Play," one person said. "I’ll still support the studio buying the physical version." "Been wanting to play this for years, but if there’s no physical I’m probably going to pass, sadly," another said. "There better be a DISC!" another declared.
Gamers have continued to call on Sony to U-turn on its decision, signing online petitions and swarming over PlayStation social media posts to express concern about video game preservation and ownership. Meanwhile, backers of physical media have called on gamers to boycott PlayStation for a week in August to send a message to Sony that its decision to kill discs from 2028 is unacceptable. Complaints have also come from other groups. The UK’s Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA), for example, called Sony’s decision “a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice.”
Last month, Sony finally broke its silence on its decision to discontinue PlayStation discs to say it is not having any impact on its business now, and it doesn’t see any negative impact in the future. Executives have insisted Sony will not change its mind, while acknowledging “strong views” from the video game community.
When Sony announced its decision it said it was simply following consumer trends. “In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only,” Sid Shuman, Senior Director, Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, said in a post on PlayStation Blog .
Sony's latest financials show an 82% digital download ratio for full game software across PS4 and PS5. Reinforcing this trend, Mat Piscatella, Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana, recently said that just seven PlayStation video games had sold more than 100,000 physical units so far this year in the U.S. . Only two PlayStation video games sold more than 10,000 physical units in the U.S. during the week ending July 11.
Similarly, Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, recently defended the company’s decision not to release GTA 6 on a physical disc , insisting when it comes to big games, discs “don’t really make sense for the consumer.”
There are of course instances of companies reversing controversial decisions amid a backlash, but, as analysts have told IGN , it remains unlikely that Sony will U-turn on this. For Sony, going all-digital for new game releases will earn it more money from every sale at a time when console sales are expected to plummet due to their rising cost. For a first-party PlayStation game such as The Last of Us, Sony will only keep around 65% of the money from a physical copy, with around 30% going to the retailer and roughly another 5% on manufacturing costs. Meanwhile, for a physical copy of a third-party game such as the Activision-published Call of Duty, Sony will get a licensing fee, likely around 15%.
For downloads, however, the margins are much higher. For a first-party game sold via Sony's own PlayStation Store, the company obviously keeps 100% of the revenue. For third-party games such as Call of Duty, meanwhile, Sony keeps a 30% cut (so, roughly $21 for a $70 game).
As for Phantom Blade Zero, the State of Play will show off nearly 20 minutes of new gameplay. S-Game founder and CEO, Soulframe Liang, confirmed that martial arts movie star Donnie Yen is in the game (he’s in the trailer above), and has served as creative consultant for Phantom Blade Zero since 2023, helping specifically on combat design “to help deliver an authentic kung fu experience.” He plays Mó Yuan, the protagonist’s father, having provided facial and motion capture.
“What you saw in the preorder trailer is only the beginning,” Liang teased. “Battling enemies atop a speeding wagon and crossing blades with former comrades like The Hunt are just the opening moments of Soul’s journey. The Phantom Blade Zero gameplay deep dive State of Play will introduce never-before-seen characters central to our story while showing just how expressive players can be with their individual builds. We’re looking forward to finally sharing more of what we’ve been working on.”
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