Sony’s Disc Production Factory Workers to be Reassigned Amid Shift to Digital

As Sony moves forward with its decision to discontinue production of physical PS5 games, the company has begun planning the reassignment of staff at its major disc production plant in Thalgau, Austria. This shift is set to take place following the company’s announcement that all new PS5 games will go digital-only from January 2028.

According to local news source Salzburg ORF, CEO of Sony DADC, Dietmar Tanzer, stated that the decision to go discless will not result in job losses at the Thalgau factory. However, the 300-strong staff will undergo retraining to focus on manufacturing ‘micro optics’, such as lenses that can project a car turn signal onto the road.

Currently, an astonishing 600,000 discs are produced at Sony’s factory every day, with PS5 games accounting for half of its total output. However, this figure is set to be dramatically slashed, with staff instead working on manufacturing optical microlenses.

While Sony’s decision has sent shockwaves around the industry, with a strongly negative response from fans and other developers, and ridicule from celebrities and brands, the numbers show physical game purchasing declining rapidly year-on-year.

Tanzer stated that Sony’s decision to go discless is not a result of a decline in demand for physical games, but rather a response to the changing market. ‘PlayStation currently accounts for approximately 50 percent of our volume, and of that, approximately 20 percent are new orders,’ Tanzer explained. ‘We are talking about roughly 10 percent of the volume in 2028.’

Analysts have pointed to Sony’s announcement about PS5 games going all-digital as evidence that there are no plans for PS6 to support discs, either. This report appears to back this up further, with no suggestion that disc production will ramp up again for the start of Sony’s next console generation.

A disc-less PS6 makes sense, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls suggested this week, to keep spiralling component costs down by omitting a disc drive on new hardware. ‘Sony will be looking for all the ways it can reduce the cost of its next-gen console, and this is an easy win,’ he wrote.

‘It’s possible that an add-on disc drive could be made available to play older PS4 and PS5 games on disc,’ Harding-Rolls continued. ‘Removing the drive will upset some gamers that don’t want to pay for an add-on disc drive (if available) and that want to access their game collections on disc. It may be too impractical or too complex, but some process of transferral for older physical media to a digital license could alleviate some of these issues.’

Do You Support an All-Digital Gaming Future?

Of course, it’s likely not just Sony doing away with discs. Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will reportedly release without a disc drive. In tandem, Microsoft is said to be exploring a new disc-to-digital feature that would let users put a disc into their console and gain a digital license for the game, giving them the ability to play it without a disc.

The shift towards digital gaming is a significant one, and it’s clear that Sony is committed to leading the charge. But what does this mean for gamers, and for the future of the gaming industry as a whole?

Key Statistics:

• 600,000 discs produced every day at Sony’s factory
• PS5 games account for 50% of Sony’s total output
• 20% of new orders are for PS5 games
• 10% of volume is for PS5 games in 2028