Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
On July 1st, Sony announced it will stop pressing discs for new PlayStation games come January 2028. The PS6 isn't officially all-digital yet, but every analyst with a pulse has already done the math. Project Helix (aka the Xbawk 720) also seems to be following suit. Looks like the game disc is taking a trip upstate to join the headphone jack and instruction manual.
So, people got mad. As they do. A Canadian retailer started a "Don't Kill the Disc" petition that topped 200,000 signatures in about a week. The announcement post got dragged into oblivion and the backlash quickly turned into a much bigger debate about what digital ownership even means. Trevor Noah weighed in. Kojima spoke, saw his shadow and went back into hiding. Sony said little beyond the usual corporate language, because its Austrian disc plant is already converting its production lines to make tiny camera lenses instead of Blu-rays.
Sony probably made this decision two years ago and told their marketing team to "figure it out."
Will this change anything? I'm not holding my breath. The petition will hit some round number, get a news cycle, and then it's quietly forgotten. Sony reversed the PS3 store shutdown in 2021 because keeping a legacy storefront limping along is cheap compared to a global disc manufacturing chain staying operational. But I don't see them walking this back. Maybe a $79.99 external disc drive is coming, sold separately and always out of stock.
Cynical, I know. But this has been a long time coming.
Don't Be the Bad Guy
There's a Yang to this Yang, a company we all point to as the alternative, the open one, the semi-platform-agnostic one that runs on Windows and Linux and technically macOS if you're out of options. They've been doing this digital-only thing for decades.
For most people, Valve is the good-guy version of Sony. They make great games, support fan projects, and championed a free alternative to Windows. But in another timeline Valve is the villain of this article, and honestly we had a taste of it. In 2004, Half-Life 2 required Steam activation even if you bought the physical disc. People lost their goddamn minds, and they were right to. It was a new age of DRM and it kind of sucked.
Valve just gave themselves a head start, they've worked out the kinks and have since created a very loyal base. But even their famously generous refund policy didn't exactly come from the goodness of their hearts. Australia's consumer watchdog sued them in 2014, the refund policy showed up in 2015, and Valve still ate an A$3 million fine for misleading customers.
Maybe this industry doesn't really have heroes.
Then, in October 2024, thanks to a California law, Steam added a little line to your shopping cart: a purchase grants you "a license for the product on Steam." Two decades of goodwill, and the legal fine print is identical to Sony's. You don't own your Steam library. You own permission which isn't really owning anything.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
Adam Kovic is a creative director and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. He spent a decade producing video content and brand campaigns for companies mostly owned or devoured by WarnerMedia.
Writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Null+Void Creative. Aaron's work covers culture, economics, and the occasional vintage Volkswagen. Media veteran and purpose-driven creative.
