Companies join hands to collectively dunk on PlayStation's all-digital future —  Domino's pizza, KFC, and GameSir all threaten an end to physical production

News
By
Published

Brand Twitter might actually be enjoyable for once.

PlayStation 5
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Yesterday, Sony announced it will cease production of physical discs for PlayStation games starting in 2028, sending a shockwave across the industry. If the news weren't already upsetting enough, companies on social media are now taking advantage of the opportunity with a barrage of corporate satire. Multiple high-profile brands have chimed in with sarcastic announcements of their own that mirror Sony's decision in an absurd fashion.

The Domino's Pizza UK account on X is probably the most prominent inclusion on this list — they went viral earlier for mocking God of War: Laufey by remarking that "God of War without Kratos is like Pepperoni Blast is without pepperoni." For this occasion, the account posted an official (satirical) statement saying the company is stopping production of all physical pizzas in the UK by April 1, 2027.

The company joked that customers would still be able to buy them in a "digital format" where their imagination would have to do the heavy lifting. Apparently, you'll have to download the pizzas to "enjoy them in an entirely virtual sense," and there are pizza codes available for further convenience.

Latest Videos From

Then there's the Spanish KFC account which made a similar joke-announcement but with a heightened sense of urgency. They're not even waiting for next year; KFC España will stop offering chicken in "physical format" starting right now. The account explained that customers need to now buy the chicken in "fake PNG format," accompanied by a screenshot of their app showing the newly listed digital chicken.

KFC is actually referencing the NFT craze from a few years ago, where people would often joke about how they could just download the image others are paying a fortune for. The company even replied to a comment that said it'll just get the digital format chicken from Pinterest by warning them not to pirate the items.

Somehow, the bit kept going with another tweet laying out the ground rules for KFC España's new PNG chicken. Right away, they announce that a DLC is already in the works for sauces, where each sauce will be sold separately. They urge customers to pre-order "Los Glaseados" because the codes are running out — throwing another jab at GTA VI, this time, and its digital-only release.

Lastly, we have GameSir, a popular name in the PC controller space, who also announced a shift to a digital-only model. If you buy a GameSir controller now, you won't receive anything physical in the box. Instead, you'll get an activation code to download the controller via the GameSir app and use quantum entanglement to control your games. The statement ends by reminding us that "true pro-gamers don't need a controller in their hands; they need a controller in their souls."

Clearly, these posts highlight the sheer absurdity of the situation. Digital games account for a vast majority of all game sales, so Sony is not opening a Pandora's box by itself here. But the core of the issue resides with choice — the consumer should have the right to choose whether they want a physical or digital copy. By mandating it for them, Sony (and those that will follow) is institutionalizing a race to the bottom where ownership will mean nothing. Furthermore, by eliminating the used hardware market, Sony ensures that gamers on a budget won't be able to buy titles at cut prices on the pre-owned market, relying instead solely on the goodwill of developers and Sony to set prices on the PlayStation Store.

Google Preferred Source

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Hassam Nasir
Hassam Nasir
Contributing Writer

Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

68 Comments Comment from the forums
  • usertests
    This would hit harder if consumers hadn't voted with their wallets and embraced digital game distribution and streaming services.
    Reply
  • LordVile
    usertests said:
    This would hit harder if consumers hadn't voted with their wallets and embraced digital game distribution and streaming services.
    Just because someone primary buys games digitally doesn’t mean that they don’t want or appreciate a physical fallback. Especially when they missed a game on launch and buy it used on disc later on.

    I wonder that the percentage would be when used titles are factored in
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    Ain't that a case of the pot calling the kettle black...
    All these companies made every last bit they could possibly make digital digital and they are trying to pretend that sony is worse than them?!?
    They have monitors instead of employees to make your order you pay on the same monitor as well, and if robots were a bit cheaper all the food would be prepared by robots, and yes, if they could send you your food in digital form they would switch over to only that in half a heartbeat.
    Reply
  • JeffreyP55
    Admin said:
    Companies on social media are coming together to mock Sony's decision of ceasing production of physical discs for PlayStation games. These brands are shifting to a digital-only model in an even more absurd manner.

    Companies join hands to collectively dunk on PlayStation's all-digital future — Domino's pizza, KFC, and GameSir all threaten an end to physical pr... : Read more
    When it was no longer possible to load games locally, my gaming interests ended. Steam and such are not for me.
    Reply
  • cachcoco
    VHS and DVD went the same way. Stop clutching your pearls.
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    Strike one: Digital would be cheaper, they said. Strike two: They could be trusted with game preservation. Strike three: Some games requiring online connectivity that aren't even live service.
    Strike... four?: All digital!
    Things progressing as far as they have probably has some relation to the declining intelligence and shorter attention spans of newer generations of humans - AI isn't helping there - oh, and some old farts in the political sector.

    Ugh. Money is behind it all. I can't stand that guy; one of, if not the biggest butthead out there.
    Reply
  • ThatMouse
    As a PC guy, most of the top games come out in beta now and get constant updates. Physical media was dead to me 10+ years ago. You want "physical" media there's piracy.
    Reply
  • FoxtrotMichael-1
    This is just a classic case of all the younger guys having a lack of wisdom due to a lack of experience. Once a game that you’re nostalgic for is 20+ years old and impossible to play because it was released digital only and unsupported on all current platforms - then you will understand.
    I still play the original Baldur’s Gate on Windows XP and an iMac G3 thanks to physical copies.
    Reply
  • LordVile
    cachcoco said:
    VHS and DVD went the same way. Stop clutching your pearls.
    I mean they kinda didn’t they just got replacements by a better physical standard. That’s like saying cars went the same way becaure no one drives a model T anymore.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    FoxtrotMichael-1 said:
    This is just a classic case of all the younger guys having a lack of wisdom due to a lack of experience.
    No it's not, this is a classic case of an old man not understanding what's going on today....
    There is no way of putting a living evolving game on a physical medium, full stop.

    All the big games that the 20 year olds grew up with have seasons and change drastically every few months. A physical copy, even if you could make it work, would at best give you a glance at whatever season the snapshot was from which would just be a fraction of the game as a whole.
    It would be like only having the starting (or any one) area of baldurs gate.
    You can make a backup of the steam folder of, for example, marvel legends and even if you could make it run in 20 years it would be nothing like the actual game because the actual game is constantly evolving, getting new characters and content. You would need to make backups of every single version and release them at the same intervals as the actual game did...it gets super not doable really really fast.

    We don't live in a world of retro games anymore, the static single player game is being phased out just as much as physical media is.

    Also baldurs gate is a terrible example since it's on steam and playable on modern systems.
    Reply