As Sony continues its death march against physical discs, a group of gamers are calling on everyone to put down their PlayStation controllers for an entire week.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’re probably aware of Sony’s decision to stop producing PlayStation game discs after 2027.
Unsurprisingly, it’s been met with enraged responses – leading to online petitions, more concerns over the future of retail stores, and a planned ‘blackout’ where PlayStation owners are expected to turn off their consoles for an entire week.
If you want to take part in the PlayStation protest, or just fancy a guilt-free lie down, this is your reminder that it’s kicking off from Sunday, August 23, 2026.
The boycott concludes the following Sunday on August 30, so you’ll be able to treat yourself on the bank holiday Monday if you get withdrawals.
As organised by the X account DoesItPlay1, a post reads: ‘No logins, no playing, no purchasing on PlayStation. This one week is the minimum requirement. If you can, start early, go longer.
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‘Let Sony know how important physical media is. Don’t accept all-digital without customer rights!’
The protest is designed to hurt PlayStation’s active players metric, but it will take a huge amount of disruption to catch Sony’s attention. A reminder post from the group has generated 1,800 shares and 5,700 likes on X, which is a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of people that own a PlayStation console.
In Sony’s recent financial report, the company noted that it hasn’t seen ‘any impact’ on its business since it announced the decision to stop making physical discs. ‘We don’t see that there will be any negative impact on our business,’ Sony CFO Lin Tao added.
Sony might not believe in the blackout’s chances, but the more that join in, the more chance of proving them wrong – although you will be missing out on the Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is out next week too. And Star Wars Zero Company.
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