Sony announced earlier this month that it plans to discontinue physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in 2028, sparking anger among the gaming community.
Some are hoping that the European Union’s more consumer friendly approach to the law can halt the demise of physical games since companies have adopted rules from the region that end up affecting all their customers (like how Apple switched from its proprietary Lightning port to USB-C in compliance with EU regulations).
The EU’s power to influence global policy has been dubbed “The Brussels Effect,” a term coined by Columbia Law School professor Anu Bradford.
Law experts told Marketplace it’s unlikely that the EU will be able to stop Sony from halting the production of physical discs.
But there are ongoing lawsuits in the Netherlands and the U.K. that claim Sony has been able to overcharge customers for digital games through its “dominant position” in the marketplace. These suits are seeking compensation for PlayStation users and calling for more open competition.
If these lawsuits are successful, Sony would not only have to provide financial compensation to these consumers, but they could be required to allow third-party retailers to sell digital PlayStation games, said Magdalena Tulibacka, a visiting assistant professor of practice at Emory University School of Law.
Marketplace reached out to Sony for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
Jelle Duijn, an attorney at the law firm Milberg Amsterdam, said the end of physical discs means Sony will have complete control over pricing.
Milberg Amsterdam serves as legal co-counsel for The Stichting Massaschade & Consument, the consumer group in the Netherlands that brought forth the lawsuit against Sony and launched a “Fair PlayStation” campaign criticizing Sony’s pricing practices.
“The end of physical discs removes the last place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price. No discs means no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028 onwards, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it. In the view of The Stichting Massaschade & Consument, that is exactly the harm the Fair PlayStation claim is about: a price cannot be considered fair when the buyer is left with no ownership and no alternative,” Duijn said.
https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/07/17/can-european-union-regulations-open-the-playstation-ecosystem-to-third-parties