Gaming needs a ‘vinyl revival’ — I spoke with gaming and music experts to find out whether physical games could make a comeback | Tech Radar
Overview
News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Details
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
Gaming needs a ‘vinyl revival’ — I spoke with gaming and music experts to find out whether physical games could make a comeback
The music industry has the blueprint for a better future
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Back in June, Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 — perhaps the most anticipated game of all time — would only be available as a digital download, with physical boxes containing redemption codes rather than discs.
Days later, Sony sent shockwaves through the gaming community by announcing that it would cease production of all Play Station discs in January 2028. With Xbox on unsteady ground and Nintendo already relying on controversial game-key cards for many of its releases, Sony’s decision felt like the beginning of the end for physical gaming media.
Still, as someone who grew up buying games at brick-and-mortar stores, it's a real shame to just let physical games fade away — especially when physical media has made such a comeback in other industries.
On top of being a lifelong gamer, I’m also a DJ and huge music nerd — so the recent news has made me think about vinyl’s return to popularity in the music industry. With that in mind, I spoke to four experts from across the worlds of gaming and music to find out whether a similar revival could be on the cards for physical games.
(Image credit: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Sony’s decision to stop making physical game discs hasn’t come out of nowhere. Physical game sales have been in decline for years, with Gamespot reporting that 80 per cent of all Play Station software sales in the latest fiscal year were digital.
'We've set this company up in preparation for this moment' — as Play Station scraps discs, these companies are ready to keep physical games alive
Sony's physical game disc elimination may ruin the future of gaming
Return of the CD: booming figures prove disc sales growth eclipses vinyl in 2026
John O’Shea is co-CEO and creative director at the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, UK. He tells me that Sony’s decision will have wider impacts on how we preserve and share games going forward: “What we’re hearing from communities is that people are worried that some of the games they care about deeply might become less accessible to them as a consequence of being digital only.
“It’s brilliant [at first] because you can access whatever you want,” he continues, “but what’s tricky is if it gets taken down or delisted from the catalogue.”
O’Shea adds that, in the UK, video games are not archived with as much care as other forms of media: “The wider challenge is that there is not currently an integrated framework for video game conservation. Individual companies should, and rightly do, pursue their own business focus, but where something exists in a digital format, copies can’t easily be made within a legal framework.”
The decline in physical game sales has tracked with a decline in brick-and-mortar gaming stores. Leading US retailer Game Stop has closed more than 700 of its domestic stores since early 2025, and the once-mighty UK retailer Game has been reduced to a section in sporting goods store Sports Direct.
Khalil Madim is assistant manager of London independent game store Game On. He tells me that the business is preparing to shift away from selling games altogether: “We might change the entire business to electronic maintenance and parts for PCs. We want to do something that you really need a person for.”
Why Play Station Blackout week won't make a difference to Sony's physical media stance
A G2A business executive sides with gamers in pursuit of disc preservation
These are the physical Play Station releases we'll treasure forever
Game On already does most of its trade through its repair service. The store opened in 2009 as a combination game and repair shop, but the latter has taken priority due in part to low margins on new boxed games.
“When it all becomes digital, we might be out of the business,” he continues, “it will impact us so badly. The customers aren’t happy as well – when they buy a game for, say, £10, they can sell it back to us for £5, or they can hand it over to friends or family. But when it’s a digital copy, they can’t do anything.”
Gaming retail finds itself in a similar tricky situation to the vinyl industry at the advent of digital downloads and music streaming.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, LP and EP vinyl sales in the US fell from more than
Tom Durston runs record store Inverted Audio in south London, as an extension of his blog of the same name: “I’ve been buying records since I was 13 years old, and I used to buy video games as well. Back in the 90s you had to buy a game [in person]. You’d have the little box, and the artwork – it’s the same as a record.”
Durston tells me that his store succeeds because of the curation that physical media requires: “I’ve essentially built a platform for my music taste – over the years an international community of readers has trusted me to filter out good music. We’re a record store, but we’re also an editorial platform.”
He adds that physical media requires more investment from producers, which engenders more investment from consumers: “If you have a physical format, you’re introducing quality control – is it worth pressing 500 records, for example? If not, there’s no point.”
The community Durston mentions is about more than where you buy your media. For DJ and artist manager Madison True, physical media gives people something to connect over in a world of fleeting digital interactions.
True’s ‘Vinyl Bitch’ workshops bring beginner female, non-binary, queer and trans DJs together over a pair of turntables: “The thing we try to cultivate is that community, that love, and that discussion. It’s so cool to see people that I know or those that have never met each other become homies by the end of the night, and it’s because they’ve come together over this piece of physical media.”
True continues: “How cool is it that people can come together no matter their sexual identity, or gender, or religion, and come together and talk about how cool something looks and sounds? You wouldn’t get that if it wasn’t physical.”
Before setting out to write this article, I thought that the best hope for gaming was to mirror record labels’ investment in nostalgic special editions – even without a disc, gatefold covers with new artwork and box sets with bonus goodies and collectibles could be enough to make owning a game feel worthwhile.
The issue is that the games industry is more centralised than the music industry. Sony licenses the creation of Play Station discs and is the sole manufacturer of Play Station consoles, meaning indie developers can’t just opt out of working within their system.
As such, John O’Shea says that gamers are keen to hold on to anything that gives them a sense of ownership: “In the fan community, there’s a subjectivity of stories that’s really important. Anything that feels like it’s allowing less of a sense of ownership for the game’s players in the communities is going to have an emotional response.
“With video games, it’s the players that bring games to life, and the players want to have a sense of ownership in return.”
Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.
Jamie is freelance journalist who has written for Tech Radar and Music Radar as well as various specialist news outlets and music blogs. A lifelong tech-obsessive, Jamie began his writing career as a music blogger before studying journalism at Goldsmiths College, and worked at Tech Radar between 2024 and 2026. He thinks the i Phone 5S is the greatest phone of all time, but is currently an Android user.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Microsoft's leaked vision of Windows built around AI is still a worry
The Apple Watch 12 is rumored to be released next month — get the Apple Watch 11 in stock and on sale for just $299 at Amazon
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls review: unlimited potential
Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 office chair in Labor Day & back-to-school sale
Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.
Key Takeaways
- News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
- Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
- Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
- Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
- Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards
