Sony's last discmaking plant, located in Thalgau, Austria, will decrease overall product volume by 10 percent in 2028, the company clarified to game journalist Brian Crecente. This corrects earlier reports that suggested a 90 percent reduction in PlayStation disc production.
The misinterpretation stemmed from July comments by Sony DADC chief Dietmar Tanzer. His statement was initially understood to signal a decline *to* 10 percent of current levels. Sony now specifies the decline is *by* 10 percent.
The distinction matters economically. While Sony stops accepting orders for new disc releases in January 2028, publishers can continue reordering existing titles from the Thalgau plant for at least another year. This extends the revenue tail for back-catalog games in physical form as the industry shifts toward digital distribution.
In July, ORF Austria reported that the plant's 300 employees were undergoing retraining for microlens production. Sony DADC declined to comment on the restructuring.
The move aligns with Sony's stated position on game ownership. In legal filings, the company has argued that "reasonable consumers" cannot believe they own a game after purchase, suggesting that digital and physical copies coexist as licensed products rather than owned goods. Major game publishers, including some that have declined to participate in Microsoft's disc-to-digital initiative, appear to share this view of the ownership model.
