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It is one of the most memorable punches ever thrown in the console wars. It is one of the best mic drops by a company, safe in the knowledge it was winning over hearts, minds, and wallets. And it is, arguably, the moment Sony won the console war for good, ensuring PS4 sales steamrolled the Xbox One (which led to PS5 doing the same with Series X/S).
I am of course talking about Sony’s brilliantly brutal “This is how you share your games on PS4” video, which showed former PlayStation execs Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes passing a game box from one to the other.
“This is how you share your games on PS4,” Yoshida says, before he hands a game to Boyes.
“Thanks,” says Boyes.
This is how you share a game on Playstation (you don’t) https://t.co/yTLVyFtAJ2 pic.twitter.com/eNwPKCTOYC
— Barnabé Hausser (@BarnabeHausser) July 1, 2026
The reason this video had such an impact? It followed a confusing and controversial explanation of Microsoft’s plans for digital game ownership on Xbox One, laid out by former console boss Don Mattrick. Now, Xbox One had other problems too (remember Kinect?), but the uproar over Microsoft’s plans for redeeming codes and timed console check-ins felt fatal. While later U-turned on, fans were left incensed by Microsoft’s desire to effectively kill second-hand sales and stop them simply lending a copy of FIFA to a friend.
By contrast, Sony’s video — at just 21 seconds and 10 words — showed gamers that PlayStation offered another way. It was the way gamers were used to, the way console gaming had always worked. Until 2028, of course.
“It was really fun,” Yoshida said later, reflecting on the video. “We did not want to make fun of Xbox at the time, but they announced about their DRM and the system before we talked about PS4. So because lots of people and media were asking us questions [about] what we were doing, we tried to communicate what we were going to do in a very short form.”
13 years on from Sony’s video, PlayStation has today announced that no new PlayStation 5 games will ship on discs from January 2028 onwards. From that date onwards, all new games will launch digitally via the PlayStation Store, with some still sold in boxes at retail that will likely contain a digital download code (as will be the case later this year with GTA 6). In another change, Sony has also announced the closure of its PlayStation Store on the PS3 and Vita, beginning next month in certain countries.
Reacting to today’s news, analysts have suggested Sony will likely not ship the upcoming PS6 with a disc drive at all, whenever it finally arrives. The era of simply handing a PlayStation game to a friend really does seem to be over.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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https://www.ign.com/articles/remembering-sonys-iconic-this-is-how-you-share-games-on-ps4-video-as-playstation-kills-discs-13-years-later
Tom Phillips
Almontather Rassoul
