Video Game History Foundation Addresses Death of Physical PlayStation Games

Following the recent controversial announcement that Sony will no longer be making physical games media for new games as of early 2027, the rumors that Xbox is moving in the same direction with the Helix console, and the recent trend of Nintendo physical media only providing a digital game key, the Video Game History Foundation has issued a statement addressing the move away from physical games media. In the statement, the VGHS argues that the removal of physical media is more symbolic than anything else, because, for a long time, even games that shipped as physical media have required day-one downloads in order to work properly, and that “the vast majority of video games produced over the last two decades were not made for dedicated home video consoles.”

The argument is that there are currently no effective methods to preserve the game and experience that those who purchase modern games have, especially if, as the foundation puts it, “platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts.” The Video Game History Foundation is calling on the industry to collaborate and help find a viable, meaningful solution for video game preservationists and historians, because “asking museums to download a copy of Grand Theft Auto VI and hope it’ll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution.” The VGHF also highlights that it and other organizations like it have been fighting to change laws surrounding copyright and preservation, but those efforts have been “repeatedly blocked” by trade groups, like the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), who recently made some alarming statements in a hearing relating to game preservation.

The full statement by the Video Game History Foundation reads:

Video Game History FoundationThis is unfortunate news for those who still prefer buying games on physical media, and is certainly a hit to consumer rights, the resale market, and game creators whose businesses rely on the physical market. But from the perspective of professional preservationists, this doesn’t have as much as of an impact as you might expect.

The reality is that the vast majority of video games produced over the last two decades were not made for dedicated home video game consoles, let alone pressed to physical media. And even when they were released on physical media, a day-one digital patch was all but guaranteed, meaning that even though a disc is preserving data in an accessible way, it may not represent the game that people actually played. Museums and archives have been preparing for this future for a while, with the expectation that putting discs on a shelf isn’t going to be a long-term solution for preserving new games.

What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it. If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we’d also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research. Everyone agrees this is a serious problem, but the ESA has repeatedly opposed the efforts of cultural heritage institutions to reform digital copy protection laws to make it easier to do this work. The industry needs to meaningfully come to the table on this issue, because asking museums to download a copy of Grand Theft Auto VI and hope it’ll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution.