Ken Kutaragi, the founder of PlayStation widely regarded as the father of the console, says physical discs are a "metaphor" for owning games—and that being upset about their disappearance is, in his view, a "mentality issue."

His remarks follow Sony's announcement on the official PlayStation blog that physical disc production for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will end in January 2028—a decision that has triggered major backlash from fans. Game industry veterans told Decrypt that the disc decision is typically driven by publishers seeking to boost profits, and that Sony miscalculated its community's reaction.

Sony's plan has landed amid a storm of controversy. Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden called it a "heavily spreadsheeted decision" and said it had damaged the company's reputation, while fans have gathered more than 385,000 signatures on a "Don't Kill the Disc" petition on Change.org. The calendar adds context to the fight: the January 2028 cutoff sits roughly 18 months out from the July 2026 announcement, a window in which the petition drive and the public response continue to play out.

"I understand that physical discs have become a metaphor for 'owning' games. I really understand that mentality," Kutaragi said at the Game Republic New Horizons event. "But nobody thinks [physical media] is necessary for a networked device like a smartphone, for example, because people feel that they will keep their content. So it's a mentality."

"I really understand [why some people are upset]," he added, according to the Video Games Chronicle. "But I don't think it's economically reasonable. Maybe it's a mentality issue."

Kutaragi retired from PlayStation in 2007 and is best known as the architect of the console's first three generations; two more generations have launched since his departure. He is widely credited with driving the hardware development of the original PlayStation, which launched in 1994. He currently serves as chief executive of the Japanese companies Ascent Robotics and Cyber AI Entertainment.

Industry Veterans Point to Publisher Economics

Robert Bowling, former creative strategist at Infinity Ward, told Decrypt that publishers are the "only ones ever pushing" to cut physical game discs. Dropping discs, he said, lifts profit margins by reducing production costs while also crushing the game reseller market led by the likes of GameStop.

"It speaks to the divide that has formed in our industry between those who see games as just a software product," said Bowling, now studio head at the game studio //18.bravo, "and those who see them as something more like art, entertainment, collectibles, and a lifestyle."

Chris Heatherly, a game industry veteran, said corporate executives are used to "iss decrees" from their offices and "hiding behind their PR teams"—an approach that doesn't work in the social media age. In his view, Sony isn't "in dialogue" with its audience, which is why it misjudged how the move would land.

"I think it's insult upon injury for gamers who feel used and abused by these console makers in general," Heatherly told Decrypt. "If you look at Steam, people buy way more games than they play because they like to collect games. What is that other than owning them? You're not playing them at all!"

That said, Heatherly argued that it isn't "an entirely rational coherent thought process" to want to own online multiplayer games, since the publisher usually controls the servers anyway. Even so, he believes there is a middle ground.

"I think there are models for ownership worth talking about, but not fake financialized ownership like web3," he told Decrypt. "I think people would be happy with local forever and peer-to-peer [online services], frankly."

Sony's Courtroom Position on Digital Ownership

The fight over physical media has been sharpened by Sony's own legal arguments. According to court filings, Sony has argued in court that no reasonable consumer believes they own the digital games they buy on the PlayStation Store. Instead, the company maintains that Store purchases amount to buying a revocable license. That legal position supplies the stakes behind Kutaragi's "mentality" framing: under Sony's own argument, what players keep from a PlayStation Store purchase is a revocable license rather than owned property. Whether the Change.org petition, Layden's criticism, and the broader backlash prompt Sony to revisit the January 2028 timeline remains an open question.