Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has expressed the view that Sony's decision to cease production of PlayStation physical discs "will not significantly shake the industry."

Guillemot addressed the topic during an investor conference call for Ubisoft's Q1 fiscal year 2027 earnings on the 23rd (local time). The question was posed by TD Cowen analyst Frédérick Duguet, who suggested that the disappearance of the used game market—which allows users to resell old games to fund new purchases—could create a headwind for demand.

Guillemot countered by citing the PC market. "What we have seen on PC is that [the digital transition] has actually grown the market," he replied. This is interpreted as a reference to the fact that the overall market size expanded even after the PC physical package market effectively vanished following the growth of Steam.

He also pointed to the advantages in terms of hardware pricing. "There will be pressure on device costs in the future, and moving to digital-only will help in creating more accessible devices," Guillemot said. He implied that removing disc drives could lower manufacturing costs, thereby easing the price burden of next-generation consoles amid rising costs for components like memory.

Nevertheless, he added, "As you mentioned, there are pros and cons. However, we do not believe this will shake the industry that significantly."

Sony previously announced that it would completely halt the production of physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028. The announcement sparked strong backlash, particularly among collectors of physical packages, and some analysts have predicted that the $7 billion used game market will take a significant hit.

Following reports of Guillemot's remarks, criticism erupted on social media. The core of the backlash is the argument that the PC and console markets cannot be compared directly. Critics point out that while the PC market features multiple digital shops—such as Steam, GOG, and Epic Games—that compete through diverse pricing and discount policies, PlayStation's digital distribution is effectively a monopoly controlled by Sony. Furthermore, some noted that because digital sales are more favorable to publisher revenue sharing, Ubisoft is not free from its own vested interests.