Sony appears to be rolling out new warnings to consumers concerning its PlayStation 5 consoles that feature disc drives, as a new sticker has been spotted on its latest wave of PS5 restocks that cautions consumers that as of January 2028, games “will be available for purchase on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital format only.”
As spotted by Push Square, user Behind the Games on X posted a picture of a newly added “Important Notice” sticker that alerts potential buyers to Sony’s upcoming shift toward a digital-only future. Based on the packaging of the box in the image, the console appears to be a 1TB standard disc-drive edition of the PlayStation 5.
The English text on the sticker reads as follows: “IMPORTANT NOTICE: From Jan 2028, newly released games on PlayStation will be available for purchase on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital format only. Discs for games released before January 2028 can continue to be played on this console.”
⚠️ Ya están empezando a llegar remesas de consolas PS5 a las tiendas con este mensaje en la caja:
AVISO IMPORTANTE: A partir de enero de 2028, los nuevos lanzamientos de juegos para PlayStation estarán disponibles para su compra en PlayStation Store y a través de minoristas… pic.twitter.com/E7dpJSnFb2
— Behind the Games (@BehindTGames) August 5, 2026
Many are, naturally, quite skeptical of the image, considering how easy it would be to fake. While Behind the Games stated in a follow-up post that the image was sent to them by a “trusted source,” and also promised to upload an unboxing video at a later date, there is also a far more convincing source.
The Amazon listing in Germany for the 1TB “Standard” edition of the PlayStation 5 has been updated at some point in the last week to feature the same sticker that is present in Behind the Games’ image. While anyone could very easily print off a fake sticker and slap it on a PS5 box, only a select few people at Amazon have the power to update an image featured on the page of an extremely well-known brand.
It’s important to keep in mind that Sony is likely just covering its own back here. The fact that the German listing for the console has been updated may simply reflect Sony’s adherence to EU consumer laws, which require that consumers be given ample warning if an electronic device’s functions will become obsolete or significantly change at a certain point in time.