Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Games sit at the center of Japanese internet culture, so debates over "ownership," "preservation," and "used sales and backward compatibility" hit close to home. As Sony pushes toward an all-digital future — halting production of physical PlayStation game discs from January 2028 — French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon posted on X that "games are not mere products but cultural heritage, and gamers have a right to own them," a message that gathered 63,000 likes. He criticized a digital-only model where "you pay money but own nothing" and announced a campaign for legislation protecting digital purchase rights. Whether a prominent foreign politician should intervene in a private company's business model became its own flashpoint, splitting opinion online.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Skepticism and sympathy on "ownership and preservation" — A dismissive "preserve it on your own dime" clashed with a preservationist worry that "storefront shutdowns will leave a hole in game culture."
  • Accusations of vested interests and double standards — "Sensitive about ownership, but lax on emulators and piracy — it's all about the money in the end."
  • Merit arguments with cool caveats — A pro-shift line ("cutting distribution costs helps third parties") ran up against "prices won't drop" and "can this really compete with Steam?"

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

A foreign politician calls games "cultural heritage"

Reactions to French politician Melenchon criticizing Sony's all-digital plan and calling for protection of game ownership rights.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Jean-Luc Mélenchon
@JLMelenchon
·

Avec la fin du jeu physique, l'industrie du jeu vidéo veut nous imposer un tout-numérique dont l'accès sera conditionnel et limité dans le temps. Les droits de l'acheteur seront niés. C'est le triomphe de la marchandisation totale : vous payez plein pot pour n'avoir qu'un simple Show more

Leïla Chaibi
Leïla Chaibi
@leilachaibi

🎮La fin du jeu physique, la disparition de l'occasion et l'explosion des prix sont tous évitables. Signez la pétition "Sauvons le jeu vidéo physique" et mobilisez-vous👉c.org/QHDNwhgZZS #playstation #stopkillinggames #gta6 #gaming

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Sources: PUSH SQUARE

Comments:

  • "If you want to preserve heritage, do it with your own money."
  • "The more people make noise, the more it just proves Sony's influence — nobody kicks up this much fuss over Nintendo or MS."
  • "Even if discs existed, today's games are built around updates, bonuses, DLC, and limited-time online events… We need an archival service that preserves all of that too. The PS3 and Vita stores are shutting down, and a huge gap is opening up in game culture."
  • "What people hate is not being able to collect or have physical compatibility — it's not really about 'ownership,' is it? If they'd just make my already-purchased PS4 and PS5 packaged games compatible, there'd be no problem at all."
  • "Then just file to operate as a rental business — that's all it comes down to."
  • "They're so sensitive about ownership yet lax on emulators and piracy — in the end it's all about vested interests."
  • "Honestly I can't see Sony cutting off disc versions entirely; there'll surely be some relief measure. The final PS6 specs aren't even out yet, everyone's panicking too early."
  • "By this logic, digital-exclusive releases are already out too — and it's rich for a place that doesn't respect copyright to be claiming ownership rights."

The debate over the pros and cons of scrapping physical discs

Reactions to a "PS5's disc abolition is all upside" summary post, and the back-and-forth of approval and pushback it drew online.

Comments:

  • "It's all Sony's convenience, isn't it?"
  • "The biggest thing is that third parties won't get stuck dumping shovelware on retailers anymore."
  • "So an internet connection becomes mandatory. What a pain."
  • "Adding a drive makes it pricier, bigger, and uglier — just like the PS5."
  • "As long as disc and download versions cost the same, prices aren't going down; if anything discs get price cuts and cheap secondhand copies, which actually helps users."
  • "There are still plenty of idiots conflating disc abolition with package abolition — the Switch 2 mostly ships on key cards too, so it's no different from PlayStation, lol."
  • "Steering onto this course, I really don't think they can fight Steam…"
  • "Even going download-only, prices won't change — if anything they'll rise with the times (the weak yen is to blame)."