For weeks, PlayStation fans protested Sony’s decision to phase out new game discs starting in 2028. Some gamers even turned off their PS5s for a full week, while others rallied under the “No Disc, No Buy” boycott slogan. However, Sony’s latest financial results tell a different story: The number of active PlayStation users is growing, and digital games are increasingly popular. So did Sony simply ride out the protests? The answer isn’t that simple.
Sony reports 127 million active PlayStation users.
The latest financial results are sparking discussion within the PlayStation community. Ironically, Sony added users in the very quarter when several boycott campaigns targeted the company.
In September 2026, the PlayStation Network recorded 127 million monthly active users—eight million more than the same month last year and two million above the previous quarter. The figures are welcome news for Sony.
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For the organizers of the PlayStation boycott, however, the results are likely a disappointment. After all, one of their stated goals was to significantly reduce activity on Sony’s platform. There is no sign of this, at least not in the published quarterly figures.
Players were urged to turn off their PS5s for a week.
The protests gained significant attention in the summer of 2026. The so-called PS5 Blackout, supported by the Does It Play initiative, drew particular attention. From August 23 to 30, PlayStation owners were urged to turn off their consoles as completely as possible.
Participants were also urged not to log in to the PlayStation Network and to avoid purchases on the PlayStation Store. The idea was simple: if enough players stayed away at the same time, it could affect Sony’s financial results. Some fans even posted pictures of their unplugged consoles. We covered the protest’s start in detail.
You can find more on this in our article “PlayStation Boycott Has Begun: PS5 Players Pull the Plug in Protest.” However, the newly released figures show no discernible decline in monthly active users. There is one important caveat: Sony counts active users only for the last month of the quarter—September.
Because the blackout occurred in August, the September data cannot prove how many players actually stopped playing during the protest week. Participants may have resumed normal play afterward, leaving any short-term effect invisible in the published metrics.
“No Disc No Buy” Meets 78 Percent Digital Sales
The trend is even more pronounced in game sales. During the fiscal quarter, 88.2 million full games were sold on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and 78 percent of them were digital downloads, up from 72 percent in the same quarter a year earlier.
Digital games are thus continuing to gain importance. This is particularly interesting because, at the same time, the “No Disc, No Buy” campaign was attracting attention. Under this slogan, gamers aim to refrain from purchasing games that are released exclusively in digital format. They want to show Sony and other publishers that physical releases are still in demand.
Yet the overall market trend paints a different picture: the majority of tracked game sales are now digital. For Sony, this is likely validation of its existing strategy. However, the high digital share does not prove that 78 percent of gamers back the end of physical releases.
Many customers buy both digitally and on disc, and some download titles only when they are on sale while still preferring a physical copy of major new releases. Sales figures alone cannot resolve this question.
Physical games also continue to generate revenue for Sony.
Interestingly, the new financial results reveal something else. Although digital sales dominate, reported revenue from physical games has also increased. Sony reported approximately 43.1 billion yen in the physical software category for the quarter. In the same period last year, the figure was 35.4 billion yen.
That marks a roughly 7.7 billion yen increase. Full-price digital games, meanwhile, pulled in 330.8 billion yen, up from 268.3 billion yen a year earlier. Digital downloads are therefore growing much faster. It’s important to note, however, that Sony accounts for digital and physical revenue differently.
Because Sony accounts for digital and physical revenue differently, the two figures cannot serve as a direct comparison of all consumer spending. Nevertheless, the data proves that physical games remain relevant, still generating revenue even as digital distribution sets the pace.
Why are PlayStation fans protesting?
The main trigger for the current boycott movement is Sony’s decision to discontinue production of new physical PlayStation games starting in January 2028. Discs already released will still work, but under the announced plan, new titles will launch only as digital downloads.
For many gamers, this means losing an important choice. Physical games can often be resold, lent, or bought used, but PlayStation offers no comparable option for reselling digital purchases. The change also increases reliance on the PlayStation Store and digital licenses.
We examined this issue yesterday in our commentary “PlayStation Without Discs Starting in 2028: The Dead Island 2 Glitch Highlights Sony’s Biggest Problem.”
The delayed launch of Dead Island 2 on PlayStation Plus in Germany showed that even the release of an announced game can occasionally cause problems. That doesn’t mean digital games are inherently unreliable, but it does illustrate why many fans are wary of complete dependence on a digital distribution system.
Has Sony simply ignored the PlayStation boycott?
The key question is whether the protests had any impact. So far, Sony has not announced a change to its disc strategy, reversed its decision, or issued a detailed statement about the boycott.
Moreover, the latest quarterly figures give the company no clear financial incentive to change course. That does not mean, however, that the protests were ineffective.
A small or short-term campaign is hard to spot in the extensive financial reports of an international corporation. Boycotts also pursue goals beyond economics; they can generate public attention and spark discussions about consumer rights. That is exactly what the planned phase-out of physical PlayStation games has achieved.
During Sony’s State of Play in September, many viewers discussed the slogan “No Disc, No Buy.” We covered it in our article “Disc Protest Overshadows Sony’s State of Play Once Again.” The protest movement’s message has resonated with many gamers, but whether it will reach Sony’s leadership and prompt a change of heart remains unclear.
Strong financial results don’t guarantee player satisfaction.
The latest figures underscore one thing: PlayStation remains financially successful, with 127 million monthly active users and a steadily growing share of digital sales. That success may limit the leverage critics have over Sony with a one-week console boycott.
However, financial success does not equal universal approval. A player can denounce Sony’s disc plan yet still use their PlayStation. Someone might buy digital deals while also backing physical media.
Moreover, a protest that does not show up in quarterly figures is not automatically meaningless. Sony still must balance the economic benefits of digital distribution with its customers’ interests. After all, a console lives not only on sales numbers but also on user trust.
The real test may not come until 2028
Today’s figures show no discernible economic damage from the protests so far. Whether Sony will therefore reconsider its decision to phase out new game discs seems, at least for now, questionable. The real test, however, might not begin until 2028. That’s when the first new PlayStation releases are scheduled to come out under Sony’s announced all-digital distribution model.
By then, we’ll see how many players are willing to skip new releases if no disc version is available. Until then, “No Disc, No Buy” remains a visible sign of dissatisfaction from a segment of the community.
Sony’s financial results currently do not suggest a successful economic boycott. But they also don’t prove that gamers don’t care about the issue. Sony is currently coming out on top in terms of numbers. Whether the company will retain the trust of all PlayStation fans in the long run is another question. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
