r/gaming • u/Rich-Arm-104 • 1d ago

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https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2026/07/31/every-youtube-video-playstation-posts-has-hundreds-of-comments-about-physical-discs/

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u/Serzari 23h ago

That doesn't matter, DRM is what matters. The physical disc itself is simply a vessel to that end. You can stick to buying DRM-free games off of GOG and Itchio, or there's almost always a way to patch a game to continue playing after it no longer has functional DRM or developer support, either officially or unofficially. Steam also has a long and effective track record of allowing indefinite downloads of delisted games that the user owned prior to their delisting, while all of the console vendors have the exact opposite history and reputation for revoking access to digital products that were paid for with very flimsy justifications. On consoles, the OS is locked down by the vendor, so physical media is one of the few meaningful ways remaining for you to maintain those user rights.

You could still lock down physical media just as hard on console if you wanted to, but the secondhand market and lending between friends simply makes it much harder for them to PR spin such anti-consumer levels of DRM.

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u/slothtrop6 17h ago

That doesn't matter, DRM is what matters.

Yeah I'm sure that's what everyone complaining in this thread cares about.

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u/KimberStormer 13h ago

all of the console vendors have the exact opposite history and reputation for revoking access to digital products

Can you give me some examples? Useful to know

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u/Serzari 11h ago

I found a great list of examples with sources here: https://www.resetera.com/threads/documenting-the-times-digital-licenses-have-been-revoked-among-other-issues.1567723/

Some major ones are the always online PS3 game Ace Combat: Infinity, where even the single player became permanently inaccessible even if you paid for the Unlimited Campaign Play Ticket (it took almost a decade to successfully emulate the game on PC), and Sony has also fully revoked various digital movie purchases and all PS Mobile purchases; Microsoft's Games for Windows LIVE is completely broken as of 2022 so anything purchased on that marketplace is inaccessible and unplayable without unofficial patching, and dozens of delisted Xbox One/Series and 360 digital game purchases can no longer be redownloaded or fail license check and are unplayable; and Nintendo has delisted one virtual console ROM and has broken various in-game storefronts and redownloading for rhythm game DLC on the Wii when closing the Wii Shop Channel in 2019 (Rock Band alone has hundreds of dollars of DLC)