As fans protest Sony
In light of Sony's decision to retire the production of physical game discs, an industry analyst has reported that physical PlayStation games aren't selling too well in the United States.
Last week, angry PlayStation fans descended on the comment section of the latest Marvel's Wolverine trailer, another effort to push Sony to backtrack on its plan to end the production of physical discs starting January 2028.
As of writing, the video has over 12,600 comments, with the vast majority from fans sharing their thoughts on the decision.
Now, in response to a news story about the situation, Circana senior director and video game industry advisor Mat Piscatella has shared some interesting stats about the state of physical game sales in the US.
Writing on Bluesky, Piscatella said, "Two PlayStation video games sold more than 10,000 physical units in the US during the week ending July 11, 2026.
"Seven have sold more than 100,000 physical units year-to-date." He also clarified later that the figures didn't refer just to first-party PlayStation games, but "total PlayStation. All games, all publishers, all PlayStation platforms."
Addressing the fan backlash, the analyst added, "Commenting is cool, use your voice and all that. But commenting is cheap, [I don't know] idk."
Which games those are is unclear, but global estimates shared earlier this month by Alinea Analytics (via GamesRadar) suggest EA Sports FC 26, Resident Evil Requiem, and 007 First Light could be among those seven. It's estimated for Requiem specifically that 27.8% of its 3.5 million copies sold came from physical discs.
Sony has been notably quiet in the face of the backlash, and according to multiple analysts, despite the fan backlash, the PlayStation maker won't reverse its decision because "digital is just too lucrative."
"They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass," said Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy firm Kantan Games.
He added, "Their current profit margin has been too weak for years now, so they feel like they must act," Toto added. "From an economic perspective, digital sales just make too much sense especially for platform holders."
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Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.
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