One of the largest retail trade bodies in the UK, the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association, has criticized PlayStation‘s recent decision to move away from physical discs, calling it a step backward. The association, better known as ERA, represents some of the UK’s biggest video game retailers, including Game and Amazon, which are among the go-to retailers for PlayStation users in the country looking to buy physical games.
In its official statement, ERA made it clear that physical discs remain a significant part of the UK video game industry. “The total disc-based games market was valued at over £300 million in 2025,” said the association’s CEO, Kim Bayley. Bayley also said that, according to ERA’s data, about 25% of UK gamers under the age of 25 use physical discs for gaming.
Removing Discs Doesn’t Represent Progress, Says ERA CEO
In a statement published on July 2, one day after Sony announced it would discontinue PlayStation discs in 2028, ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “Consumers deserve the freedom to choose how they buy their entertainment. Removing discs doesn’t represent progress. It simply removes choice. That’s bad for gamers, bad for retailers and ultimately bad for the long-term health and preservation of our games industry.” Bayley added that physical discs can be “shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved and, crucially, still played years from now.” In contrast, digital games offer none of those freedoms.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
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One of the first people to draw attention to ERA’s statement was Christopher Dring, who discussed Bayley’s stance on the July 13 episode of his The Game Business podcast. However, alongside Bayley’s comments, Dring also shared other insights that paint a clearer picture of the physical game market and how it could be affected by PlayStation’s no-disc policies. According to The Game Business host, “45% of all physical console games sold in the UK last year were PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4 titles.” He also said, “Physical games generated $1.6 billion in the US for the 12 months ending May 2026.”
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ERA has claimed that demand for game discs has not disappeared. “Retailers see this demand every day,” said the CEO. Many people have also pointed out that PlayStation discs are often cheaper than their digital counterparts, suggesting that buying games in an all-digital world could become much more challenging for budget-conscious gamers. Addressing big companies’ push toward digital media, ERA said, “Digital distribution has transformed gaming and is hugely popular, but it should complement physical formats, not replace them.”
Christopher Dring also echoed ERA’s opinion, saying that one of “PlayStation’s iconic marketing slogans is ‘For the Players,’ but with this decision, it is more ‘For the Profit Margin.'” However, he also acknowledged that it is difficult to be too critical of the Japanese company. With the gaming industry in a state of crisis due to issues such as ongoing RAM shortages, Dring said companies like Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo have limited options for cutting costs while keeping gaming an affordable form of entertainment.
He also said, “Sony will feel, rightly, that players will just buy digital. And that they will accept it, however begrudgingly. But the company will surely want to consider ways to strengthen its digital proportions, and find ways to offset some of the things that players are losing by abandoning the disc.”
