The PlayStation Summer Sale is back, and it has some incredible deals as always. Plenty of big titles are discounted, and some games are so cheap it’s almost pointless not to buy them. This is usually the case. These sales, particularly from Sony’s platform, are a really great way to get games much cheaper than you’d normally find them. But doing so exacts a heavy toll.
PlayStation Summer Sale has Great Deals…
Let’s get one thing out of the way first. These sales are good for consumers. Gaming is expensive, especially with big games continuing to push the envelope even further. We’ve reached the day of $80 new titles, and that could one day be looked at as a bargain like the $60 price tag is now.
So, when a game is on sale like this, it’s a good thing. Gaming’s not the most affordable hobby out there, so whenever consumers have the chance to get things at a more appropriate cost, it is a good thing. So with that in mind, the PlayStation Summer Sale has some really good deals:
- Resident Evil: Requiem is 20% off
- Red Dead Redemption 2 is 75% off
- NBA 2K26 is 90% off
- Astro Bot is 34% off
- Black Ops III Zombie Chronicles is 67% off
- Borderlands 4 is 50% off
- ELDEN RING NIGHTREIN is 25% off
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows is 55% off
- Resident Evil 4 is 75% off
- God of War Ragnarok is 67% off
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is 60% off
- A Way Out is 70% off
- Hollow Knight: Silksong is 25% off
- Cyberpunk 2077 is 60% off
- Dead Space is 85% off
- Hogwarts Legacy is 85% off
I could go on forever. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is sitting at a lowly $5.99. Resident Evil 5 is $4.99. These are ridiculous prices. They represent excellent opportunities to get some games for fantastic prices, and for some, that’s what allows them to get games at all.
… That Come At a Major Cost
But there is a major, major downside to these sales. PlayStation recently announced that it would discontinue physical copies of games in 2028. We have a year and a half before digital becomes the only version of new games. Players won’t technically own any of their games. It’s bad, and it’s at least partially influenced by these sales.
We do not doubt that PlayStation’s data says that digital is dominating physical sales. But when discounts like these come around, and Sony does them fairly often, then it makes perfect sense that physical can’t keep up. Digital would likely be winning anyway, but this can only spike it further.
So, PlayStation wants to go with the trends and stop producing physical copies, but the trends are heavily influenced by their own sales. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. So yes, the sales are incredible. I have taken advantage of them time and again, I will admit. But they come at a dreadful cost.
Physical media is important. Ownership is important. Unfortunately, so are affordable prices for games, which are leading to the end of the first two things. It is a difficult situation, and there’s no win for gamers. They can either skip the sales to send Sony a message and be unable to afford certain games, or they can take advantage of good deals and put an end to physical media.
There is no win here, and it’s unfortunate that PlayStation is putting gamers in this position. But make no mistake, they’re not alone. Xbox is poised to follow suit. Nintendo is staying pat for now, but we can’t pretend that those physical cartridges will last forever. It is the beginning of the end for that, and sales like this do not help.
