Physical vs Digital: Sony Kills the Disc, GTA 6 Goes Code in a Box, and What You Actually Own

Do you enjoy owning the things you pay for? Sony has other plans. This week Davey and Mitch dig into the biggest shake up gaming has seen in years: Sony announcing that physical disc production for all new PlayStation games ends from January 2028, GTA 6 launching in November with no disc at all (that pre order box you paid up to $159.95 AUD for contains a download code and a dream), and the PS3 and Vita digital storefronts closing in some markets from August 2026.The boys go full investigative journalism on the economics of it all: why pressing a disc costs cents, who actually pockets more when you buy digital, and why Sony has always hated the pre-owned market. Plus the environmental angle nobody agrees on, with one study saying discs are 100 times more carbon intensive and another saying the exact opposite, and the genuinely nuanced (drink!) conclusion that the greenest game you can buy is a second-hand disc from the very bargain bins this move is about to kill.Then it's a proper pros-and-cons showdown. True ownership, preservation and price competition versus instant access, convenience and the fact that digital distribution is the reason most queer indie games exist at all. The conversation gets real about deplatforming, payment processor pressure on Itch and Steam, and shadow banning of queer content, because when digital is the only copy, delisting can mean erasure.Also in this episode: Davey falls for The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (the cozy JRPG that screams $45 but costs $90), Mitch grabs NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition on Switch 2 for just $22 AUD, the Release Radar covers Moonlight Peaks, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Digimon Story Time Strangers, Echoes of Aincrad, Palworld 1.0, Ascend to Zero and Dtopia, and the Bargain Watchlist rounds up the Steam Summer Sale, PlayStation's July Savings and the eShop's shockingly cheap Final Fantasy VII deals. All prices in beautiful Australian dollarydoos.It's Dry July! Davey is raising money for cancer research. Donate here: https://www.dryjuly.com/users/david-willettSupport the show and the BQN Network at patreon.com/bqn or shout us a coffee at ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers. Join the Discord: discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr