Former PlayStation Execs Recreate Iconic Disc-Sharing Xbox Diss — Without the Physical Games This Time

· IGN

Former PlayStation executives Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes have recreated their iconic game-sharing instructional video as Sony helps the industry barrel toward a discless future.

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Even if you weren't playing too many games in 2013, there's a good chance you remember the "Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video." It was a viral 20-second how-to that saw then-Sony figureheads Boyes and Yoshida deliver a tongue-in-cheek guide for sharing physical games on PS4, racking up 21.3 million YouTube views in the 13 years since its premiere.

At the time, Sony took a clear and successful jab at Microsoft and its rocky Xbox One launch plans. Fast forward 13 years, and Sony's plan to kill physical discs will have game sharing on PlayStation looking quite different from 2028. With the end of physical discs looming, Boyes and Yoshida reunited to recreate the legendary moment at Tokyo Game Show, and unfortunately, there were no physical games to be found.

"Met with a best friend," Yoshida said with an open-smile emoticon.

The two snapped a few photos together as part of Tokyo Game Show, calling back to the moment that has lived rent-free in gamers' heads for years. It was clearly a fun nod to PlayStation's past, but the future is looking grim, and fans have mixed feelings.

"This picture of Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes from Tokyo Game Show is making the rounds," physical game X/Twitter account @DoesItPlay1 said. "Seemingly mocking current anti-consumer PlayStation for killing the philosophy behind their once famous pro-consumer mockery of Xbox regarding physical game sharing."

"This is how you share games with your friends in 2028," another fan added, referencing the lack of games in their hands.

Sony announced in July of this year that it would cease physical disc production for new video games starting in January 2028. It's a move that has landed the PlayStation company in hot water for months, and despite recently soft sales for game discs, the topic isn't something fans plan to let go anytime soon.

But in July, Sony insisted its decision wasn't having any impact on its business, and it didn't predict any negative impact in the future, either. When Sony announced the news it said it was simply following consumer trends. “In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only,” Sid Shuman, Senior Director, Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, said in a post on PlayStation Blog.

There are of course instances of companies reversing controversial decisions amid a backlash, but, as analysts have told IGN, it remains unlikely that Sony will U-turn on this. For Sony, going all-digital for new game releases will earn it more money from every sale at a time when console sales are expected to plummet due to their rising cost.

For a first-party PlayStation game such as Marvel's wolverine, Sony will only keep around 65% of the money from a physical copy, with around 30% going to the retailer and roughly another 5% on manufacturing costs. Meanwhile, for a physical copy of a third-party game such as the Activision-published Call of Duty, Sony will get a licensing fee, likely around 15%.

As Microsoft introduces a new feature that will allow Xbox players to digitize their physical games, it's hard not to look at the irony of where game sharing is at in 2026. While we wait to see how it all shakes out, you can read why one IGN writer called Sony's decision both concerning and offensive.

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