Sony DADC Clarifies 10% Decline; PlayStation’s 2028 Disc Policy Stands

Sony DADC has clarified that its Thalgau operation is forecasting an overall product-volume decline of 10% in 2028, not a fall to 10% of its current output. That corrects the more alarming interpretation of comments made in July about the Austrian site.

It does not change Sony Interactive Entertainment’s separate policy. According to PlayStation’s official announcement, physical disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will end starting in January 2028.

For physical-media buyers, the distinction matters. The corrected 10% figure concerns Sony DADC’s projected overall product volume at Thalgau. The January 2028 policy concerns whether newly released PlayStation games will be produced on disc.

What Sony DADC corrected

The confusion began with comments from Sony DADC chief Dietmar Tanzer, reported by ORF Salzburg in July. Tanzer said PlayStation represented about half of Thalgau’s volume and that new orders accounted for about 20% of that share before referring to approximately 10% of volume in 2028.

The wording was read as a forecast that the operation would produce only one-tenth of its current output. Sony DADC later told Game that this was not the intended meaning.

“To clarify and avoid any misleading information: in that statement Dietmar anticipated an overall product volume decline by 10 percent, not a decline down to 10 percent.”

Game

In plain English, Sony DADC says the forecast is for overall product volume to be 10% lower in 2028, rather than for output to collapse by 90%.

That is a meaningful correction, but it should not be presented as a forecast that PlayStation disc production itself will be only 10% lower. The spokesperson referred to overall product volume, and the available reporting does not establish whether that measure means unit count, capacity, revenue or another internal metric.

What has not changed for new PlayStation games

Sony Interactive Entertainment’s position on new releases remains unchanged. Its announcement says physical game-disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting in January 2028.

PlayStation also said the transition will not affect games that have already been released or games that will be released on disc before January 2028. Sony DADC’s later factory-volume clarification does not delay, soften or reverse the cutoff for newly released games.

The practical answer is therefore straightforward: the corrected Thalgau forecast does not mean discs for new PlayStation releases will continue after January 2028. PlayStation’s published policy still says their production will end.

Reorders are a separate issue

A new game receiving its first physical release is different from an existing game being reordered. Sony DADC’s public July release says game-disc reorders will continue to be manufactured at Thalgau after 2028. It also says CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and UHDs will remain in production there.

In the later response reported by Game, the Sony DADC spokesperson also said reorders would reach the market after January 2028. This supports the continuation of game-disc reorders in general, but it is not a promise that every previously released PlayStation title will remain available.

Neither Sony DADC’s public statement nor the spokesperson’s response establishes which titles will qualify, how many copies will be produced, which territories or retailers will receive them, or how long reorders will continue. Those details remain unknown.

The short version

• Corrected: Sony DADC says Thalgau expects an overall product-volume decline of 10% in 2028, not output falling to 10% of its current level.
• Unchanged: PlayStation says disc production for newly released games will end starting in January 2028.
• Continuing in some form: Sony DADC says game-disc reorders will still be manufactured after the cutoff.
• Still unknown: The eligible titles, territories, quantities, retailers and duration of those reorders.

The correction removes the basis for describing Sony DADC’s forecast as a 90% collapse in overall Thalgau output. It does not remove PlayStation’s January 2028 deadline for producing discs for newly released games.