Hideo Kojima has reacted to Sony ending PlayStation disc production from January 2028, saying he is ‘really sad’ as someone who grew up on physical media and still buys Blu-rays and CDs. His bigger worry, though, is a fully cloud-based future where players never hold the game data at all.
- Kojima compares streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon to a ‘tap’: companies own the servers, you pay monthly to turn it on, and political or corporate changes could shut it off.
- Downloads at least live on your own hardware, he notes; cloud gaming removes even that layer of ownership.
- Sony will still allow disc reprints for games released before January 2028, and publishers can sell boxed editions with download codes after that.
- His resurfaced 2021 warning that ‘even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals’ is doing the rounds again this week.
Speaking at the Il Cinema in Piazza film festival in Rome (via VGC), the Death Stranding and Metal Gear director said the news hit him as a lifelong collector. “I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad,” he told the audience, adding that he has been buying up Blu-rays and CDs. But he was quick to draw a line between losing discs and losing ownership altogether.
The tap analogy: why cloud gaming worries him more than downloads
Kojima’s point is that digital purchases, for all their flaws, still leave something on your machine. “The situation is different for games [than movies], as they are downloaded to the hard drive, that means the game data remains on your own hardware,” he said. “However, if things shift to streaming in the future, that won’t be the case anymore.”
He then reached for a memorable image. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, he said, work like a tap: “There is a server somewhere, and you essentially just have the right to turn the tap, and when you do, the data flows out… you don’t actually possess the data yourself.” His fear is what happens when someone decides to close it. “With nations, politics and various ways of thinking, one naturally has to consider the possibility that if there is a change, the data inside will stop being distributed. And if that happens you won’t be able to watch or play the movies and games you like. That is what is frightening.”
None of this is new territory for him. A 2021 tweet recirculating this week has Kojima warning that “eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals,” and that a major change in a government, an idea or a trend could suddenly cut access to the films, books and music people love. “I would be a have-not. That’s what I’m afraid of. This is not greed.”
What Sony’s 2028 cut-off actually covers
Kojima’s comments arrive in a week when Sony has been notably quiet on the subject. The company announced the end of physical PlayStation games and then went silent on social media, leaving partners and players to piece together the details.
Those details soften the blow somewhat. Sony has told partners that games released before January 2028 can still get new disc print runs after the deadline, and that publishers will be given the option to sell boxed retail editions containing digital download codes, similar to how GTA 6’s physical version is expected to work. For UAE players, the practical shift is that new PlayStation releases from 2028 onwards, whether bought through the PlayStation Store or at retail, will be licences and codes rather than discs you can keep on a shelf.
The reaction has not been limited to one director with a Blu-ray habit. Players and developers in Japan have voiced similar concerns about preservation and long-term access to purchased games, with Kojima’s well-timed retweet of his own 2021 warning becoming part of the conversation. Sony frames the move as following consumer trends towards digital media, which is true as far as it goes. Kojima’s argument is that the trend after this one, full streaming, is the one worth worrying about now, while there is still a hard drive between you and the tap.
FAQ
What did Hideo Kojima say about PlayStation ending disc production?
Speaking at the Il Cinema in Piazza film festival in Rome, Kojima said he finds the end of PlayStation disc production in 2028 ‘really sad’ because he grew up with physical media and still buys Blu-rays and CDs. He said his bigger fear is cloud gaming, where players never possess the game data themselves.
Why is Kojima more worried about cloud gaming than digital downloads?
Kojima notes that downloaded games still live on your own hardware, whereas streaming leaves everything on company servers. He compared services like Netflix and Amazon to a ‘tap’ you pay monthly to turn on, warning that political or corporate changes could cut off access to the games and films people love.
Will PlayStation discs disappear completely in 2028?
Not entirely. Sony has told partners that games released before January 2028 can still get new disc print runs after that date, and publishers will be able to sell boxed retail editions containing digital download codes rather than discs.
What does the 2028 disc cut-off mean for UAE PlayStation players?
From January 2028, new PlayStation releases bought in the UAE, whether through the PlayStation Store or at retail, will be digital licences or download codes rather than discs, so long-term access will depend on Sony’s services rather than physical media you own.
