PlayStation’s Physical Games Still Selling Millions, Data Shows – WGB
The backlash surrounding PlayStation’s decision to stop producing physical game discs in 2028 continues, with some saying the vocal minority is angry, while others point to various data sources to show that many millions of players still like to buy discs.
Alinea Analytics has published data showing how different the actual sales numbers are for all PlayStation games. Most notably, few first-party PlayStation games have sold more discs, even though the titles Alinea uses are a few years old, meaning they’re a bit behind the digital game sales curve.
It’s important to note that Alinea only discusses sales on PlayStation, not sales on all platforms.
I took Alinea’s report here and tried to combine it with the best sales data I could find to give you an idea of how many physical copies are actually being sold. Check the disclaimer below the chart for full details, but really, these are just estimates and shouldn’t be taken as completely accurate.
| The game | The best sales figure for the PlayStation | Physical sharing | Physical copies are limited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy VII Rebirth |
2.9 million |
48.0% | ≈ 1.39 million |
| Astro Bot |
4.3 million |
45.8% | ≈ 1.97 million |
|
Assassin’s Creed Shadows It accounted for 53.6% of the 5.7 million sold worldwide. |
≈ 3.06 million |
36.3% | ≈ 1.11 million |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 |
16 million |
34.8% | ≈ 5.57 million |
|
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 It’s probably a minimum, as the PlayStation estimate predicts the latest sales trends worldwide. |
≈ 2 million |
32.2% | ≈644,000 |
|
Monster Hunter Wilds It’s probably small because the PlayStation rating is old. |
≈ 2.9 million |
30.7% | ≈890,000 |
|
Split the Myth It’s probably small because the PlayStation rating is old. |
≈ 2.5 million |
26.6% | ≈665,000 |
|
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remastered Limited liability only. This removes 701,000 Steam sales from the 3.5 million worldwide sales, but it cannot remove the anonymous Xbox sales or recent Steam sales. |
Less than 2.80 million |
24.9% | Below is ≈697,000 |
| Madden NFL 26 |
≈ 1.6 million |
12.9% | ≈206,000 |
|
Dark Legend: Wukong It’s probably small because the PlayStation rating is old. |
≈ 6.3 million |
10.8% | ≈680,000 |
Very important disclaimer: This is serious work, done only for interest rather than a direct sales report. Several PlayStation figures are third-party estimates rather than official publisher figures, some were reported months before physical share data, and figures may have changed since publication. Estimated physical prices simply multiply the PlayStation’s available sales number by Alinea Analytics’ stated percentage. Don’t take the results too seriously.
The data is amazing because even if it is not completely accurate, we are still clearly looking at many millions of physical games sold. PlayStation isn’t perfect – it’s still a small percentage of loyal gamers on social media, but it’s still equal to the masses.
And the counterarguments are wrong: the data that Sony likes to throw out includes every single game, including those that have never been physically released and thus skews the data significantly. Some of the biggest games in the world are only available digitally, after all.
My personal position is simple: the transition to digital does not affect me much. I love the body, but I won’t be a hypocrite and tell you that most of my sports are physical. They are not like that. But I don’t like the removal of choice. Physical should always be an option, especially since the rules surrounding digital media are not yet appropriate for the job.
I’m also confused by the lack of effort on Sony’s part to at least let you continue playing your existing collection going forward. There’s no reason why a PS5 external drive can’t work on a PS6, allowing you to continue playing whatever discs you already have.
