Goodbye to Physical Format? $7.2 Billion at Risk and New Game Sales Too

Inevitably, Sony's decision to stop distributing games in physical format will profoundly change the market, especially the used games sector. The only unanswered question is: how much? How will this choice influence the sales – and the pockets – of consumers?

To answer this question, the Dataintelo institute has weighed in: Sony's operation could erase a market that, by 2025, has reached a global value of $7.2 billion.

It should be clarified that the used market does not only concern games but also includes consoles, accessories, and peripherals. Consoles account for 42.3% of total revenue, while the total value of the sector could reach $13.8 billion by 2034, according to estimates reported in the report.

North America is the area with the greatest weight, accounting for 36.8% of global revenue, equivalent to about $2.65 billion. In the United States, over 38% of video game transactions in 2025 involved a used game. Europe is in second place with 28.3% of global revenue. The UK, Germany, France, and Nordic countries are the most active markets, while CEX is the leading European player in the used goods sector. In North America, dominates GameStop, Amazon, eBay, and Decluttr.

The Asia-Pacific region represents 24.6% of the market, while Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa together account for 10.3%. Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa are indicated as the countries with the fastest growth.

According to analysts, the main reason that drives consumers towards the used market is the more affordable price compared to digital copies. Michael Pachter, managing director of strategic planning at Wedbush Securities, recalled that historically at least one-third of games have been sold as used, allowing players to gain new liquidity for purchasing other games through the resale of their own.

Kazunori Ito, director of equity research at Morningstar, emphasized the difference between a shift to digital chosen by players and one imposed by the disappearance of the physical alternative. According to Ito, many consumers would prefer to handle this transition at their own pace.

Sony's decision will not affect the PlayStation discs already in circulation, which will continue to work on compatible consoles. However, the report highlights that the end of the production of physical media represents an important signal for the future of the PlayStation ecosystem.

The most discussed hypothesis concerns PS6, which could arrive without an optical drive and focus exclusively on digital copies, even in the case of backward compatibility with PS5 games. If this direction is confirmed, the used market could gradually diminish until it disappears, with evident consequences for retailers and consumers.