To protest the planned end of disc-based games, PlayStation users are shutting down their consoles completely. Sony has so far remained unimpressed.
The announced week of protest against Sony’s decision to discontinue production of PlayStation discs starting in early 2028 has begun.
With the PlayStation blackout, the organizers aim to ensure that the number of active users—a key performance metric for the company—drops noticeably over several days.
The organizers of the protest are calling on users to completely unplug their consoles from the power source until at least August 30, 2026. Specifically, this means: no logins, no gaming, and certainly no purchases on the PlayStation Store.
125 million users: Is the frustration enough to make a noticeable impact?
According to its latest financial report, Sony has around 125 million monthly active players—a slight increase compared to the previous year. For the week of protest to truly make an impact, this number would need to drop significantly in the coming days. From the outside, however, it’s hard to gauge how many people are actually participating, whether they’re adhering 100 percent to the call to action, and whether Sony is even noticing it at all.
Sony’s CFO, Lin Tao, recently told investors he was unfazed by potential boycotts and PS Plus cancellations. Currently, the company is not feeling any “impact on our business.”
Does Sony want to abandon its fans? Let’s give them a small taste of their own medicine!
Together with other creators, we’re calling for a 1-week PSBlackout in August. No logins, no gameplay sessions, no purchases on any of Sony’s platforms. pic.twitter.com/v6JvdvbHLD
— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) July 26, 2026
Sony is stalling—and developers are frustrated
Despite everything, the week of protests is an opportunity to continue making their voices heard, at least in the public eye. As for the Japanese company, it’s more likely that they’ll continue to sit this out.
The third-party title Phantom Blade Zero from S-Game also recently faced criticism of the company during its State of Play presentation. Meanwhile, a former Square Enix manager even expects that the end of disc-based games could make the PlayStation Store more affordable.
