Group plans one-week PlayStation blackout to protest Sony’s plan to end physical game production — calls for players to turn off their consoles or log out of PSN from August 23 to 30
Can you stay away from your PlayStation for a week?
Sony’s decision to end physical game production by 2028 is facing backlash from the community, with one group announcing a concrete protest. DoesItPlay, a community dedicated to video game preservation, has called for a one-week boycott of PlayStation, asking players to turn off their consoles or log out of the PlayStation Network from August 23 to 30. According to its Bluesky post, the community, along with other creators, is calling for a one-week #PSBlackout starting tomorrow, asking for “No logins, no play sessions, no purchases on any of Sony’s platforms.”
Unfortunately, many say this move likely won't make much of an impact. That’s because the last week of August is “ordinary,” with no major events or PlayStation-related launches. In fact, it’s also the same week as Gamescom, so many hardcore gamers would likely be away and at the convention anyway. Some comments on DoesItPlay’s post suggest more drastic measures, like a mass cancellation of PSN subscriptions for three months or even mass refunds of pre-selling digital games, arguing that a boycott or blackout with an expiry date is meaningless, as Sony will simply wait it out.
Other users are showing their displeasure with the move towards digital-only releases in more drastic ways. One example of this is Cyberleek, who leaked gameplay clips and the entire map of Leonidas a week before GTA VI’s extended look trailer is set to come out on Netflix. Take-Two is already taking steps to find out who was behind the leaks, but only after it became apparent that the hacker apparently has a full working build of the much-anticipated game. While the leaker did not mention anything about Sony’s plan to go fully digital, Cyberleek opposed the decision to offer pre-selling digital copies of GTA VI and threatened to keep releasing leaks until the publisher issues a public apology and “a concrete commitment to be better.”
Sony wants to abandon fans? Let's give them a small taste of their own medicine! Together with other creators we call for a 1 week #PSBlackout in August. No logins, no play sessions, no purchases on any of Sony's platforms.
— @doesitplay.org (@doesitplay.org.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T02:04:05.199Z
The gaming industry has been slowly moving away from physical media and toward fully digital releases, especially with the prevalence of the Steam and Epic storefronts. However, what many do not realize is that “buying” games from most of these services does not equate to ownership—something Steam had to clarify on its checkout page in 2024.
The only major distributor that currently offers complete ownership is GOG, which says, “A purchase of a digital content on GOG grants you its Offline Installers, which cannot be taken away from you.” Subscriptions like PC Game Pass have also started offering short-term convenience for gamers, especially those who only want to play something for a while and don’t mind losing access to the game after they’ve already completed or grown tired of it.
Companies like Sony are likely reacting to market preferences for digital games, which is probably why it doubled down on its decision to axe physical game discs. One way consumers can force these tech companies to keep physical distribution alive is by putting their money where their mouth is and start purchasing game discs from retailers instead of downloading them from online storefronts.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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Lq465om A week? Is this a joke? How about 6 months, a year or even multiple?Reply
With that week they'll show Sony how little they resist and then they'll come back to their masters(Sony) with their "tails" between their legs and and with head down which will laugh at and even punish them. -
ohio_buckeye And they hope to accomplish what exactly? If they were serious, switch to pc or Xbox.Reply -
bill001g I am sure sony is so scared :) A bunch of users turn decide they are going to not use something they pay a monthly fee for but still pay the monthly fee. A perfect business model, you get money for providing nothing.Reply -
chaos215bar2 Wouldn't it be more effective to tell people to keep playing the games they've paid for, but only buy new games on disc? And keep it up forever. That's my plan, anyway. No more discs means no more sales. Ever.Reply
A 1 week "blackout" I never even heard of before today doesn't seem like it's going to do much except tell Sony that people are so attached to their games, they can't even hold up a protest until Sony actually stops selling discs. -
hotaru251 will do literally nothing.Reply
1week does nothing...
want em to pay attention? no PSN for multiple months.
Corpo only changes when profit is impacted enough -
Bigshrimp I like the thought of the blackout, but not the plan. One week will provide 0% incentive for Sony to change course. It would require a massive boycott for months or years to make them see the light. The only thing these companies care about is money and how best to exploit it from the slop eaters. Take the money away, and you take away their excuse to do said action that caused the money funnel to stop.Reply -
dimar I haven't started my PS5 Pro since Sony announced the disc thing. I passed a 50ft HDMI active optical cable from my PC to the living room and enjoy gaming on the big screen with my PC. I'll keep the PS5 for the Wolverine game and then probably will sell it.Reply -
TerryLaze Sony doesn't just make money on the subscriptions....Reply
they make money from online sales of games and dlc and whatever else.
If this group could get enough people to stop using PSN for a week it would be a considerable loss of money to sony.
The thing is that they won't get enough people to do it for it to have an impact. -
derekullo Remember back in April 2011 when hackers forced Sony's network down for 23 days?Reply
If Sony can survive that then a 7 day partial boycott doesn't stand a chance of success.
If anything a partial boycott saves them money in server costs. -
TerryLaze Reply
They are not trying to destroy sony.....derekullo said:If Sony can survive that
They don't want playstation to stop existing.
They pay for the servers no matter what, (as long as PSN exists) they have a maximum throughput on them but that does not mean that being below that maximum is cheaper for them.derekullo said:If anything a partial boycott saves them money in server costs.