Only 7 PlayStation games have sold more than 100,000 physical copies in the U.S. in 2026: a concerning look at the market
The decline of the physical format continues: an analyst reveals the troubling state of the physical games market in the United States.
The big news of 2026 in the video game industry—aside from the release of GTA 6—has been Sony’s announcement that it will phase out physical media for PlayStation consoles by 2028. Now, a renowned analyst has shared a statistic that helps put the market context into perspective: only seven video games in total have sold more than 100,000 physical copies on PlayStation consoles in the United States so far this year, a figure that reflects the gradual decline of the traditional format in favor of digital distribution.
A concerning look at the PlayStation physical format in the United States
Sony’s decision to phase out the physical format starting in 2028 has reignited one of the most intense debates in the video game industry in recent years. The announcement has sparked an avalanche of criticism from fans around the globe and even calls for a boycott that do not seem likely to subside anytime soon. Users believe that the disappearance of discs will hinder the preservation of video games and reduce consumer freedom; in this context, any data related to the evolution of physical sales takes on special significance when analyzing where the market is headed.
The latest to provide a revealing figure is analyst Mat Piscatella of Circana (formerly NPD), who claims that only seven video games have managed to sell more than 100,000 physical copies across all PlayStation platforms in the United States so far in 2026. However, he has not revealed which titles made the cut. The information was, in turn, shared by the well-known insider Shinobi602 on X and offers a new snapshot of the current state of the physical market in one of the industry’s most important territories.
This data once again brings into focus the transformation that has been taking place in the industry for years: digital distribution has continued to gain ground thanks to the convenience of downloads, deals on digital stores, and the rise of subscription services such as PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass. Meanwhile, physical media continues to lose market share, although it remains a highly valued option among collectors and preservation advocates, and some gamers prefer physical media because they question the concept of “ownership” associated with digital video games.
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That said, a significant portion of the community also questions the way these types of figures are typically presented. Some users argue that the financial reports and sales yearbooks used by companies can lead to biased interpretations by comparing physical sales solely with the digital business as a whole—which includes not only the sale of downloadable games but also subscriptions, additional content, microtransactions, and other services. From this perspective, they believe that these two figures do not always reflect a direct comparison between two equivalent distribution models.
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