PlayStation is fully committed in ending physical discs production by January 2028, as at least one Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation factory previously dedicated to producing discs are pivoting into producing optical microlenses instead.
As reported by ORF Salzburg, the Sony DADC manufacturing plant in Thalgau, Austria, will be retaining and retraining the 300 employees to manufacture optical microlenses.
The decision to switch production due to PlayStation’s all-digital move (which means no need of producing new discs) have been “in the works for some time,” as the Sony DADC has spent around 30 million Euros on new tech to produce optical microlenses. These microlenses will go into production as early as next year, as the factory ramps down on disc manufacturing.
Just the Thalgau plant alone, 600,000 discs are produced every day, approximately half of total volume of disc production is dedicated to PlayStation (i.e. PS4 and PS5 discs). Though new orders are dwindling in number.
PlayStation is dead-set in following through this plan, it looks like, now that existing disc factories are already pivoting into making something else. To backtrack or pull a U-turn again on this would be extra costly, unless the unpopularity of this move as expressed by gamers worldwide through social channels also shows up on Sony’s bottom line in some dramatic way.