Game Companies Have Wanted to Kill Physical Discs Since 2007

Have you ever bought a video game on a disc, finished it, then sold it to a friend or a store like GameStop? According to a former video game developer, the companies that make games have been trying to stop you from doing that for nearly 20 years.

Robert Bowling, who worked on the famous *Call of Duty* games from 2006 to 2012, told Decrypt that game publishers (the big companies that fund and sell games) first discussed ending physical discs back in 2007.

Here's why publishers wanted to go fully digital (selling games as downloads instead of discs):

• No resale market: If there are no discs, you can't resell used games, so all money goes to the publisher.
• Avoid disc fees: Xbox and PlayStation charge publishers a fee to put their game on a physical disc.
• Lower costs: Making and shipping discs costs money that digital downloads don't.

Bowling says publishers even tried to get GameStop (a major used-game retailer) to share its profits from second-hand sales. When that failed, they looked at killing discs entirely.

Why is this happening now? Sony recently announced it will stop making PlayStation discs by 2028. Bowling says the reason this is finally happening is simple: most gamers now buy games as digital downloads instead of discs, so the demand for discs has shrunk.

The decision has sparked anger. Over 387,000 people signed a petition called "Don't Kill the Disc" asking Sony to keep physical games.

There's also a deeper issue about ownership. Sony argued in court that when you buy a digital game, you don't actually own it — you just buy a license (permission to play) that the company can take away at any time. With a physical disc, you truly own that copy.

The takeaway: Bowling says game developers want players to own and keep their games, but publishers are focused purely on profit. As digital sales grow, the days of owning a game you can hold, share, and resell may be coming to an end.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/381674/game-publishers-have-pushed-to-cut-discs-since-2007-infinity-ward-veteran-says