There has been a new development in the controversy surrounding PlayStation 5 entity CD-ROM games. Many game media reports indicate that CEO of the Japanese game distributor NISS America has publicly revealed that Sony Interactive Entertainment is receiving feedback from players on issues related to the entity CD-ROM and that he is personally communicating directly with Sony on matters related to the entity CD-ROM operation. This statement was seen by the outside world as a positive response by Sony to the recent strong opposition of the player community to the phase-out of the entity CD-ROM, breaking previous speculation that Sony would unilaterally push the physical release out.
The spark of this controversy is a recent widely circulated news from the player community that Sony is considering gradually reducing or even stopping the distribution of the PS5 CD-ROM and moving towards a purely digital distribution mode. The news provoked strong opposition from a large number of real game players, collectors and small and medium game distributors: For players, not only is it of collection value, but it is also freely resold, and is not affected by the closure of the server on the digital platform, it is an important vehicle for guaranteeing “permanent ownership” of the game; for small producers that rely on the entity's distribution, it is a central channel for reaching core users and circumventing high-level withdrawals from digital platforms, especially distributors of particular items such as primary-playing RPGs, independent games, etc., whose volume tends to account for a significant proportion of total receipts.
The CEO's statement is of great interest because NIS America, a producer of Japanese-style RPG-based games such as the Izú Heroes, is highly dependent on the issuance of entity CDs. In various media reports, NISS America CEO made it clear in public that “Sonny is receiving a lot of feedback from clients”, while confirming that discussions are ongoing between the two sides on matters related to the entity CD-ROM, but without disclosing the specifics of the discussions or indicating whether Sony would adjust the former entity CD-ROM policy.
At the same time as the entity CD-ROM dispute has fertilized, there have been new developments in the legal disputes related to Sony PlayStation Store, which have been seen by the outside world as important external pressures to reassess the entity ' s CD-ROM policy. The scientific and technical media reported that Sony had previously entered into a $7.85 million class action settlement agreement in October for the pricing of PlayStation Store ' s digital game, and that, in another lawsuit for the sale of Sony ' s digital game, the plaintiff had submitted a catalogue of disputes containing 44 games by 1 October, which could not only increase Sony ' s digital business compliance costs but also force him to weigh the strong demand of players for real CDs.
The controversy actually affected three core groups: first, users of the PS5 version and entity game collectors, if Sony eventually stopped distributing the entity CD-ROMs, the read-through function of the existing CD-ROM host would gradually lose its value and the purchased version of the game might not be available on the follow-up host model; second, small game distributors relying on the entity ' s distribution, who would be directly cut off from their core collections, forcing them to move to full digital distribution at a higher cost to the platform; and third, second-hand game traders, whose distribution is the basis of the second-hand game market, where it would be impossible to resell the purchased game under a pure digital distribution mode, which would lead directly to the contraction of the second-hand game market.
At present, Sony has not issued an official statement on the entity ' s optical disk policy, and two key nodes require attention by players and industry: first, the outcome of the PlayStation Store reconciliation hearing in October, which will have a direct impact on the compliance costs of Sony ' s digital game operations or become a trigger for adjusting the entity ' s policy; and second, whether Sony will follow up with an official announcement on the entity ' s optical disk operations, as well as the results of communication between the issuer of the core entity, NISS America, and Sony. For ordinary users who have already purchased PS5 versions, there is no need to worry about the use of existing entity games, and if a follow-up mainframe is planned, it is recommended that a decision be made before Sony ' s official policy is clear; for small game distributors, the current entity distribution scheme can be maintained for the time being, with an assessment of digital distribution alternatives in advance, in response to possible policy changes. (The full text is about 1980 words)