Game preservation leader says piracy is the only option in a discless future
A game preservation leader reportedly says that without legal alternatives, piracy may be the only way to preserve games after physical media disappears.
A prominent voice in game preservation has reportedly argued that without meaningful legal alternatives, piracy becomes the only way to keep old games accessible when disc drives vanish. The statement, reported by PC Gamer, lands the same week Sony confirmed it will stop producing PlayStation discs after 2028.
The logic is uncomfortable but simple: as platform holders abandon physical media, the industry tells consumers to buy digital licenses that can disappear when a store shuts down or a server authenticates something three generations old. No perpetual offline installer, no disc image you can keep, no used market. Just an expiring permission. The same companies that call piracy a threat to the business are the ones refusing to build a durable replacement for the disc.
The preservation community has been saying this for years, usually in quieter tones. Now the disc is on its way out and the argument is being made more openly. It won’t be the last time we hear it.