Saber Interactive's Tim Willits on Sony's Physical Disc Shutdown: "Surprised How Upset People Were"

Sony will end support for physical PlayStation game discs in 2028, and one of the industry's most seasoned creative leads is not losing sleep over it.

Tim Willits, chief creative officer at Saber Interactive — the studio behind titles like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 — told GameSpot at Gamescom that he was "surprised how upset people were" about Sony's decision. Willits said he has not bought a physical game in a long time, citing the convenience of digital downloads.

That does not mean the discs are dead everywhere. Willits said Saber still makes "a lot of money" from physical games, especially in Europe, where shelf-space and retail habits keep the format alive. North America, he noted, is trending differently — players there have shifted to digital faster.

The comments came during a broader conversation about rising console prices, which has become a pressing issue for the industry. Sony and Microsoft have both raised prices on their current consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, to the point where each machine now costs US$150 or more above its 2020 launch price. Nintendo is hiking the price of its new Switch 2 in September.

Willits called the cost of a new console "shocking" and said it will be interesting to see how Sony and Microsoft manage pricing as they develop their next generation of hardware. A report from Ampere Analysis, a research firm covering the media and tech industries, warned that if next-gen consoles come in at US$1,000 or more, the effect on the gaming market could be dramatic and negative.

For studios, the squeeze works both ways. Willits told Game Developer that studios need to find "reliable" income streams to support their big swings in game development — the expensive, ambitious projects that define a studio's reputation but carry real financial risk. Diversifying beyond North America and finding steadier revenue are part of that conversation.

Looking further ahead, Willits floated an idea that sounds like science fiction but sits firmly in the language of an industry thinking about ownership and access. He suggested someone in the future might create an "AI box" into which players could upload all their games — a single device replacing shelves of discs and libraries of digital licences alike.

For now, the shelf is not empty. But the date on it is set.

Sony's 2028 timeline gives players and retailers a window. What they do with it — and what the next consoles cost when they arrive — is the question Willits and the rest of the industry are watching.