Former Playstation head defends physical games as 'super important'

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says physical games remain important as Sony moves towards digital releases

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has defended physical games, arguing that players who continue to buy discs remain an important part of the gaming community.

Layden, who previously served as chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, discussed the shift towards digital games on The Expansion Pass podcast.

While acknowledging the convenience of downloading games, he questioned the decision to move away from physical releases.

Layden said he did not know the financial reasoning behind Sony's plans to end physical disc releases, describing the decision as likely a “heavily spreadsheeted decision” based on costs and profits.

“Downloading a game is easier than going across my living room to put a disc in the machine,” he said. “I just press a button on my controller and I don’t have to move.”

However, Layden argued that physical buyers could represent a particularly valuable section of the market, even if they make up a smaller proportion of players.

“Maybe 80% of the people download and 20% don’t, or whatever that breakdown is going to be,” he said. “But that’s a super important 20%.”

He described physical game collectors as “the most faithful of the faithful” and compared gaming's collecting culture with comic book collecting.

“We are an inquisitive, collecting sort of people and we like to show off our stuff,” he said.

Layden's wider concern centres on whether digital purchases represent ownership or access to a digital asset.

“I think this is probably the more insidious aspect to it, is that it changes the conversation from do you own a game or do you have access to a digital asset, right?” he said.

“If you can’t sell a thing, that means you don’t own a thing. And if you don’t own it, then what are you buying?”

Layden said the shift could affect the reputation of companies moving away from physical releases, adding that he hoped the financial reasoning behind the decision justified its potential impact.