Sony caused controversy this week with its announcement that PlayStation games will no longer be available on discs from January 2028. Breaking the news to customers two days after revealing that hundreds of digital films will be deleted from players' accounts was certainly a choice from a brand comms perspective.
Unsurprisingly, gamers have had a lot to say about the matter, with a backlash quickly brewing on social media. The digital artist Beeple also had a take on the death of physical media, and that's sparked still more debate.
A post shared by beeple (@beeple_crap)
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Beeple became a household name after his First 5000 Days NFT was auctioned for $69.3 million in 2021. He also made an NFT depicting Madonna giving birth to a tree. and elevated JD Vance memes to art.
Posted on Instagram as part of the series of daily posts he began in 2007, his take on Sony's PlayStation disc controversy looks like a scene from 1984 or Fahrenheit 451. Riot police burn piles of game boxes, while banners hang from buildings declaring the ownership of physical media to be a crime.
As art often should, the image has enough of an element of ambiguity to provoke debate. Is Beeple criticising Sony, or is he suggesting that gamers might be over reacting a little bit? After all, this was an artist who championed NFTs, which were seen by some as the end of physical art.
The debate over Sony's decision has continued in the comments on the artist's post. Many are strongly opposed to the potential lack of permanent ownership that comes with digital media implies – customers license the content from a company, which could terminate that licence. There's a fear that the ultimate aim is permanent ongoing subscription to play games.
However, some see discs as already obsolete given the size of modern AAA games. Others note that many discs and cases end up scratched and broken in landfill sites.
Meanwhile, some are suggesting that generative AI was used to make Beeple's image, and that this complicates any criticism of Sony's shift to digital media. "Being mad about less physical media is a preservation mindset, but all AI does is ruin our planet," one person reckons.
Beeple has embraced many forms of digital art and has been open about using generative AI for certain projects, although I don't believe he's not revealed whether he uses it (or how and to what extent) for his Everydays series. He previously used Photoshop and Cinema 4D, one of our picks as the best 3D modelling software.
What do you think about Sony's PlayStation disc decision and Beeple's response? Let me know in the comments.
