- Primary Subject: Sony, the physical game market, and the economics of second-hand games
- Key Idea: Why ending physical releases could gradually shrink the used-game economy and reduce affordability options for players
- Status: Opinion
- Last Verified: July 24, 2026
- Quick Answer: The piece argues that Sony’s move away from physical discs won’t eliminate used games overnight, but will slowly erode the supply that sustains the multi-billion-dollar second-hand market, reducing one of gaming’s key affordability and resale systems over time.
Sony's move to end physical PlayStation discs has once again put game ownership under the microscope, though I think the more revealing story is what happens to the multi-billion-dollar second-hand market built around them.
According to Dataintelo, the global market for pre-owned games, consoles, accessories, and peripherals was worth an estimated $7.2 billion in 2025, with projections previously expecting it to nearly double over the next decade.
That forecast now looks increasingly uncertain because, once PlayStation stops producing new discs, one of the industry's biggest sources of pre-owned games will slowly stop feeding that market.
Now, to be clear, Sony isn't banning used games. Every PS5 disc already sitting on a shelf will continue to exist, and stores won't suddenly throw away their inventories on January 1, 2028.
That's an important distinction because some headlines make it sound as though the second-hand market falls off a cliff in 2028 - it doesn't. What Sony is doing is arguably even more significant because it's cutting off the future supply.
A resale market only survives if new products continuously enter it. Every time someone buys a physical game, finishes it, and trades it in, another player gets a cheaper way to experience that same title.
Remove new discs from the equation and that cycle inevitably becomes smaller every year. Older games will continue changing hands (retro gaming certainly isn't going anywhere), but the modern console ecosystem gradually shifts toward one where every new purchase exists inside a digital storefront instead.
The Used Game Market Didn't Become Worth Billions By Accident
Whenever discussions around physical media come up, they often drift toward collectors, preservation, or nostalgia.
Those are all valid topics, but they aren't what built a multi-billion-dollar resale economy. Affordability did.
People don't browse used game shelves because they enjoy owning scratched plastic cases. They do it because gaming has become increasingly expensive, and the second-hand market has quietly acted as one of the industry's biggest pressure valves for years.
A $70 game that becomes $40 a few weeks later opens the door for someone who otherwise would've skipped it altogether.
A parent shopping for their kids, a student on a budget, or someone simply unwilling to gamble full price on an unfamiliar franchise all benefit from that system.
Just as importantly, resale doesn't only save money - it creates it. Trading in a finished game has long helped fund the next purchase.
Whether someone sold games through GameStop, CeX, Facebook Marketplace, or directly to another player, every sale quietly chipped away at the cost of the next one.
That's a cycle unique to physical media, and it's easy to underestimate how much spending it quietly generates.
Analyst Michael Pachter made a similar observation, noting that used games historically helped finance new purchases because players could trade completed titles for credit toward future releases.
I simply don't buy the assumption that eliminating resale automatically leads to more digital sales. Some players probably will buy digitally instead. Others won't.
If someone knows they'll recover $30 or $40 after finishing a game, paying full price becomes a much easier decision.
Remove that safety net, and a lot of purchases suddenly become harder to justify. Rather than buying digitally on day one, some players will simply wait six months for a sale.
Others may rely more heavily on subscription services. Some may skip certain releases altogether because every purchase becomes a permanent expense instead of something with residual value.
The used market isn't just a place where games change hands. It's part of what keeps money circulating throughout the industry.
Sony's decision makes complete business sense. Manufacturing discs, shipping physical inventory, forecasting retail demand, and dealing with unsold stock all cost money.
Digital distribution is simpler, cheaper, and gives Sony greater control over how games are sold.
None of that is surprising, especially when digital purchases have already become the dominant way people buy PlayStation games.
But those savings come with a bill of their own. Every efficiency gained by removing discs also removes an economic option for players.
Once new PlayStation games exist only as digital licenses, there's no opportunity for those purchases to re-enter the market through resale.
A digital game can certainly go on sale, but that's entirely at the discretion of the publisher or storefront.
A used copy creates competition naturally because its value is determined by the market rather than a promotional calendar.
The real story isn't that Sony is ditching discs - it's that an entire gaming economy may be shrinking with them.
What's disappearing alongside it is one of the gaming industry's largest affordability mechanisms - a market worth billions precisely because it gave consumers another way to participate in an increasingly expensive hobby.
Will the second-hand market vanish overnight? Of course not. Existing physical games will continue circulating for years, and retro collecting will almost certainly remain healthy.
But without new PlayStation discs entering that ecosystem, the market inevitably becomes smaller with each passing generation.
Ironically, that may end up affecting more than bargain hunters. A healthier resale market has never only benefited the person buying a cheaper used copy.
It has also encouraged launch purchases, funded future releases, and lowered the financial risk of trying something new.
Perhaps that's what the $7.2 billion figure really represents. Not a pile of used discs, but decades of players stretching every dollar, funding their next purchase, and keeping gaming just a little more affordable than it otherwise would've been.
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