In early July, Sony announced that a decision had been made to stop releasing PlayStation discs with new games. Some users had been collecting physical copies for many years and didn't pay much attention to what was happening in the digital PlayStation Store.
After Sony's announcement, they decided to take a closer look at the PlayStation Store and were surprised when they saw the prices for some old games. A post by a user named KestisBD9 went viral in the gaming community — he tried to imagine the grim future that awaits players without discs.
As an example, he cited God of War: Ragnarok — a four-year-old game without a discount in the PlayStation Store costs 70 pounds, while a used disc can be found for 18 pounds. In his opinion, without discs, companies will have a monopoly on pricing, and Sony will also be able to easily raise the price of a PS Plus subscription:
After 2028, the PS Store will be the only option [for buying games]. It seems many are missing the point, so let me explain: it's not specifically about God of War — this will be the case for EVERY game in the future. When competition from physical copies disappears, there will be no need for digital sales — you'll constantly have to pay these high prices. And for those who love digital and say "just get PS Plus" — here's a question for you: what will happen when physical copies disappear and Sony raises the price to 30 pounds or 50 dollars a month simply because they can? It feels like people don't understand what they are losing.
However, some gamers reassured those who are worried about such high prices. They reminded that the PlayStation Store often holds sales, for example, God of War: Ragnarok could recently be purchased at a reduced price.
FairVitiGap (apparently a PC gamer) joined the discussion and noted: "Strangely enough, there's a very fit girl who has [the game] much cheaper" — hinting at the creator of game repacks.