Buying Physical PS5 Games In 2026 May Have Already Saved You $200

The biggest argument in gaming right now is not the one about whether you should have to refuel cars in GTA 6 or not. It’s the divide between physical and digital games. PlayStation will stop putting games on discs in 2028 as it pushes for an all-digital future. Those against it aren’t necessarily just nostalgic for an era we’re about to leave behind; they’re also fearful of how much their hobby is going to cost when digital games are the only option.

It’s always felt a little backward to me that digital games tend to cost more than physical ones on consoles. You’d think the extra manufacturing, materials, and legwork would mean it’s the other way around, but it’s not. That’s because, on digital storefronts, not only do the platform holders control the MSRPs, but unlike physical releases, those MSRPs rarely drop in price.

2026's Biggest PS5 Releases Cost $200 If Bought Physically

This isn’t just for older games either, and to prove that, I conducted a little research. I compared the price of every big new game released so far in 2026 on the PlayStation Store to how much it would have cost to buy a physical copy of the game through Amazon. 16 games in total, and a near $200 saving to be had if you had bought all of them physically instead of digitally.

The grand total of buying the 16 biggest releases of the year so far through the PS Store is $1,029.84. If you had bought them all physically on Amazon, that same haul would have cost you $833.40, saving you $196.40.

The differences between some of the games I included are pennies. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, for example, is just 99 cents cheaper when bought physically. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag: Resynced contributes even less to that $196 differential, with only 19 cents between its physical and digital editions. However, there was just one game on the list that costs the same whichever edition you buy. That game was 007 First Light.

Not a single game was cheaper if bought digitally instead of physically.

Some Very New Games Are Up To $30 Cheaper

There are some big savings to be had elsewhere on this list if you were to choose physical. Saros, a first-party PlayStation game, is $20 cheaper if you buy a physical copy instead of defaulting to the PS Store. You could have saved the same by picking up a physical copy of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined. Nioh 3, meanwhile, which just got DLC, is a full $30 cheaper.

Some of the most popular games of the year are also quite a bit less when bought physically vs. digitally. Physical PS5 copies of Pearl Abyss blockbuster Crimson Desert are $49, but the game is still $69.99 on digital storefronts. Even Resident Evil Requiem, a frontrunner for Game of the Year and a critically acclaimed mega hit, could net you a $16 saving if bought physically.

As the argument over whether physical games are worth fighting for rages on, and PlayStation continues to ignore the backlash, the most important element of all is being overlooked. The cost. Not only are some people going to be priced out by an all-digital future, but when we eventually reach a day where PlayStation no longer has to worry about customers potentially looking to third-party retailers for cheaper physical copies of its games, it will no longer have to worry about how much it charges for them. Buy physical while you still can and save some money, but unfortunately, it already looks like there’s no stopping PlayStation’s digital-only train.