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Cockroaches will learn to fear my SwitchBot Bot Rechargeable
A clever and cheap way to automate light switches.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book demo now available on Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo has just announced that a demo for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is now available for free on Nintendo Switch 2. Players can experience the game’s first chapter, and save data can be transferred to the full version if they decide to purchase it later. Originally released on May 21, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a platformer that...
MAGA has a new villain: Amy Coney Barrett
A new poll finds that Barrett is the least popular justice. A Republican revolt against her is the biggest reason why.
Boston sues Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube citing youth mental health
Boston is suing major social media companies, saying addictive platform features worsened student mental health and strained school resources.
Pearl Health Raises $110 Million to Expand Its AI Platform Helping Providers Deliver Better Outcomes at Lower Cost for Medicare Patients
/PRNewswire/ -- Pearl Health, a healthcare technology company helping manage risk and deliver better care to Medicare patients, today announced a $110 million...
Yahoo Sports signs Josh Norris, Hayden Winks after shutdown of Underdog content network
Popular fantasy football commentators Josh Norris and Hayden Winks are joining Yahoo Sports. The duo, which hosted Underdog’s Fantasy Football podcast until this week, when Underdog shuttered its original content network, will bring their show to Yahoo’s digital platforms and FAST airwaves. Yahoo announced the move on Wednesday morning. The show will relaunch later in July. “When…
The Steam Machine fits my TV, my desk, and my life
I’m a little obsessed with Valve’s game cube.
Spectrum Science Appoints Industry Veteran Marie Emms as President of Clinical Business
/PRNewswire/ -- Spectrum Science, an independent, full-service, strategic platform offering integrated clinical, commercial, and communications services, today...
Spectrum Science Appoints Industry Veteran Marie Emms as President of Clinical Business
/PRNewswire/ -- Spectrum Science, an independent, full-service, strategic platform offering integrated clinical, commercial, and communications services, today...
Vendelux just raised $50 million to capitalize on live B2B events
Marketers want to get back to in-person gatherings, and Vendelux, a live events information platform, just raised $50 million to capitalize.
INCUBASE Studio Accelerates Collectible Entertainment with GochaGocha's 23-Location Asia Debut of a New Photo Card Experience
INCUBASE Studio is expanding its IP entertainment ecosystem with the launch of GochaGocha, a new smart photo card machine platform developed by subsidiary INCUTix. Following a rapid rollout across 23 locations in Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok in early June, GochaGocha introduces a new channel connecting fans with officially licensed content through discovery, collectability and convenience.
Mesa businesses struggle as Val Vista Drive roadwork drags on
This story was written and reported by a journalist and revised with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
How Trump Accounts Platform reshape small business finance
I understand the immense effort required to run a business—long hours, complex supply chains, and personal sacrifices for employees and children. That’s why the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is partnering with you to ensure your hard work leads to lasting stability, supporting our region’s families by providing immediate financial relief and long-term wealth building […]
Meta’s glasses will turn off the camera if you tamper with the privacy light
Meta has tried to discourage tampering with the LED.
Of course viewers are giving up on Netflix shows
Pivoting to short form video isn’t going to fix things.
Report: Microsoft will make even more of its games exclusive to Xbox — as multiplatform strategy totally fails. What's going on?
Xbox's loathed "Project Latitude" strategy which saw Microsoft support its biggest rival with content is ending, with CEO Asha Sharma doubling down on exclusives.
Founder/CEO and Clinical President of Digital Health Company Sentenced
The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ruthia He of Done Global Inc., a California-based digital mental health company, was sentenced today to six years in prison and a $1 million fine for orchestrating a scheme that used her company’s technology platform, compensation structure, and clinical protocols to unlawfully distribute over 37 million pills of Adderall,
What could Democrats have done differently about Graham Platner?
She recruits progressive candidates for a living. We asked what went so wrong here.
Anthropic is launching Claude Cowork on mobile and web
Claude Cowork will also run in the cloud now, so it can keep working on tasks even when you close your laptop.
Google announces Pixel 11 launch event in August
It’s almost time for new Pixel hardware.
Doom developer id reportedly cut in half as part of Xbox layoffs
A legendary studio is losing a lot of staff.
Discord accidentally banned over 8,000 people for posting grids and other ‘benign’ images
Discord blames a bug affecting its safety system.
Microsoft fixes storage-hogging Windows 11 folder
A default Windows 11 folder could be taking up storage on your device.
Reality Shows Are Tapping Into the Microseries Boom
Industry players like NBCUniversal and Fox and microseries platforms like FlareFlow and aTwist are investing in reality shows as their next frontier.
Solos debuts an even lighter version of its camera-less smart glasses
The AirGo A6 are slimmer and lighter than last year’s model while still offering hands-free access to an AI assistant.
iFixit has a new toolkit for fixing appliances, building furniture, and household repairs
It’s not just your electronics that occasionally need a fix.
Oracle Named a Visionary in 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms
Oracle Named a Visionary in 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms. In our view, this reflects the progress we are making as analytics and AI become more connected.
Nothing’s first B-series phone is also skipping the US
The Phone 4B is an affordable, plastic phone with Nothing’s biggest battery yet.
Nothing’s new earbuds can record calls and what you’re listening to
Nothing’s new budget-friendly earbuds can record whatever you’re playing.
Voters love rent freezes. Economists hate them. Except for this one.
Does rent control really backfire?
Scientists just created the most lifelike cell ever made in a lab — here's what it could accomplish
SpudCell is a new cell-like platform that can feed, grow and divide like a normal cell — but it's not yet a perfect re-creation of the real thing.
Meta Platforms Is Entering the Neocloud Business. Here's Why CoreWeave Investors Should Not Worry.
CoreWeave stock holds competitive advantages that can solidify its business.
Capital Region influencers support Muslim-owned businesses in light of hate
LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) — In light of recent online hate, local community members have been banding together, using their platforms to support one another following the death of seven-year-old …
Hoto’s PixelDrive screwdriver is down to $60, matching its best price
It’s got six adjustable torque settings.
MannyPay Global Launches U.S. Merchant Processing Division to Help Small Businesses Lower Payment Costs and Accelerate Growth
Backed by global icon Manny Pacquiao, the company introduces a merchant-first payments platform — spanning card processing, integrated commerce te...
How Investors Are Reacting To Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Expanding Tribal-Linked Online Casinos And Digital Wallets In Maine
In June 2026, Caesars Entertainment announced it had expanded its partnership with three Wabanaki Nations to pursue a 2026 launch of three branded online casino platforms in Maine, pending regulatory approvals, integrated with Caesars Sportsbook, Caesars Rewards, and its Universal Digital Wallet. The agreement not only broadens Caesars’ digital footprint but also ties online gaming growth directly to tribal workforce development and long-term community funding commitments across the Wabanaki...
Ryzen AI Developer Platform: AMD's Own Linux Distribution Built Atop Debian
With the AMD Ryzen AI Halo developer platform there is the option of ordering this Ryzen AI Max+ mini PC with either Microsoft Windows 11 or 'Linux OS'.
AMD Ryzen AI Halo Is An Excellent & Powerful Mini PC With Fully Open-Source Software Review
Earlier this year AMD announced the Ryzen AI Halo as their in-house mini PC offering built around their leading Ryzen AI Max+ 'Strix Halo' platform.
Khamenei’s Funeral Shows It Is ‘Business as Usual’ in Tehran
The Rhetoric from Iran’s Official Platforms Shows That the Islamic Republic’s Ideological Foundations Remain Unchanged
Comcast’s Sky to Buy ITV’s Media & Entertainment Unit in $2.1 Billion Deal
ITV’s linear channels and ITVX streaming platform will remain free-to-air, while Sky News and ITV News will stay editorially distinct
Comcast’s Sky to Buy ITV’s Media & Entertainment Unit in $2.1 Billion Deal
ITV’s linear channels and ITVX streaming platform will remain free-to-air, while Sky News and ITV News will stay editorially distinct
What’s inside the one bill Trump most desperately wants to become law
A sweeping set of national requirements for voters. An empowered DHS. What would happen if the SAVE America Act passed?
Digital Science unveils AI-powered research strategy platform
Platform "designed to help research institutions answer complex strategic questions using verifiable evidence"
Meta Platforms' New Cloud Business Could Be a Game Changer for Its Stock
Meta getting into the cloud business should help allay investors' fears of overspending on AI infrastructure.
Sony clarifies re-order support for existing PlayStation discs
Platform holder adds the process for ordering discs will change as it shifts to an all-digital future
TIENS VMOMENT Wins Wprost 'Business Innovation' Award in Poland
WARSAW, Poland, July 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On July 1st,TIENS Group, through its global AI-powered health and wellness social platform VMO...
WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield finds new tag partner in social media company focused on sports
John Bradshaw Layfield reveals his Texas Rangers fandom and hatred of online trolls drove him to join BZZR, the sports-only social media platform.
Sun Life completes $350 million acquisition of Bell Partners
The deal folds a leading US multifamily manager into Sun Life's BGO real estate platform
SoFi (SOFI) Launches AI Investing And Small Business Loans In Product Push
SoFi Technologies (NasdaqGS:SOFI) has launched Composer by SoFi, an AI-powered investing platform designed to help members build and automate customized investment strategies. The company has also introduced SoFi Small Business Loans, a digital-first lending product aimed at giving entrepreneurs faster access to capital with no fees. These product rollouts expand SoFi's presence in AI-driven investing tools and small business lending within its broader financial services platform. SoFi...
Infuriating Google commercial imagines the founding fathers embracing AI
It should make Americans of every political stripe want to hurl their devices against a wall.
The twisted history Trump’s White House is using to redefine religious freedom
Is religious freedom on the retreat in America? A Trump commission certainly believes that to be true.
Flatbush Zombies’ Erick the Architect misses his BlackBerry keyboard
Fresh off a surprise appearance rapping about apps at WWDC.
The evidence against “ultra-processed” foods is weaker than you think
New analysis suggests other factors may explain the harms blamed on “ultra-processing”
For one small business, AI was key to a quick start and expansion
Here Now Health isn't an AI-based company, but its quick path from an idea in founder Michelle Turner's mind to an operating mental health platform for foster children relied deeply on the technology now restructuring the U.S. economy.
For one small business, AI was key to a quick start and expansion
Here Now Health isn't an AI-based company, but its quick path from an idea in founder Michelle Turner's mind to an operating mental health platform for foster children relied deeply on the technology now restructuring the U.S. economy. Working from her Virginia Beach home, she used AI tools to school herself in startup culture, create a business plan and fine-tune a presentation for early-stage investors. Funding began to flow, and the company, launched in January 2025, now has 16 employees and is certified in three states to provide Medicaid-funded mental health counseling for children entering the foster system, a gap in care she identified through her own experience as a foster parent.
Karpa Health Launches Turnkey Nationwide Telehealth Platform as GLP-1, Peptide, and Hormone Demand Accelerates
The all-in-one platform helps entrepreneurs, clinics, med spas, gyms, and wellness brands launch cash-pay telehealth programs nationwide. TAMPA, FL / ACCESS Newswire / July 3, 2026 / Karpa Health today announced the general availability of its turnkey ...
China Proposes Expanding E-Commerce Law Scope, Platform Rules
China released draft amendments to its E-Commerce Law that would expand coverage beyond platforms and merchants, and revise rules governing the digital economy.
The New Anthropic Tool That Could Change How Drugs Are Developed
Introducing Claude Science, the AI platform designed to expedite the discovery of promising new therapies. Anthropic will also use it in-house to pursue innovative treatments for 'neglected' diseases.
Amazon quietly updated 2023’s Fire HD 10 tablet with 4GB of RAM
The 32GB model is now available with a bump from 3GB to 4GB of RAM with a small price increase.
With ERP.net’s New App Builder, Businesses Can Create Applications Directly Inside Their ERP System
Bulgaria, July 3, 2026 -- European enterprise software company ERP.net has introduced App Builder - a new Agentic AI-native platform that enabl...
This slim camera has a transparent LCD screen for a viewfinder
The Godox C100 skips a color preview screen for a multi-function viewfinder that can double as a light meter.
Anthropic wants to develop its own drugs
The AI drug boom has a long way to go before reaching patients.
Digital diabetes tool shown to improve patient care and cut health care costs
A new study by University of Manchester researchers has linked a digital platform helping people manage type 2 diabetes to better blood sugar control, improved health and potential long-term NHS cost ...
Jon Prosser responds to Apple lawsuit by blaming the other guy
Prosser denies participating in a “coordinated scheme.”
The Supreme Court can no longer explain itself
The justices don’t speak a common language, even with each other.
What Caesars Entertainment (CZR)'s Wabanaki iCasino Expansion and Bearish Zacks Rank Mean For Shareholders
In late June 2026, Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced it had expanded its partnership with three Wabanaki Nations in Maine to cover potential online casino gaming, adding three branded iGaming platforms that integrate with Caesars Rewards and its Universal Digital Wallet, subject to regulatory approvals. At the same time, the company faced sharply weaker analyst sentiment, including a very large downward revision to current-year earnings estimates that pushed it onto the Zacks Rank #5...
Sony’s PlayStation disc factory is already being repurposed
All 300 employees will be retrained, Sony says.
Ecolab Closes CoolIT Acquisition and Expands AI Cooling Platform as Global High Tech Business Targets $4 Billion by 2030
ST. PAUL, Minn., July 02, 2026--Ecolab today announced the close of its acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a leader in direct liquid cooling for high‑density data centers. The transaction closed earlier than expected, and Ecolab welcomes the world-class CoolIT team to the company.
Influencer screenings aren’t going away
Content creators have become a big part of the entertainment media ecosystem.
Intel Expected To Restart Supply Of 10th, 12th, 13th, And 14th Gen Processors In Mainland China
Intel will reportedly focus more on the previous-gen processors to fulfill the current demand in the PC market. Intel is Reportedly Restarting Supply of Last Four Generation of Processors as Motherboard Vendors Ramp Up DDR4 Platform Production Roughly a month ago, we reported that some vendors are now restarting the production of DDR4 platforms, i.e., DDR4-compatible motherboards. This is to ensure the market gets DDR4 motherboards in sufficient quantity, as expensive DDR5 memory has made it unfeasible to build DDR5 systems on a budget. More reports are surfacing confirming the same report, and Intel appears to have prepared accordingly. Related […]
The Onion to give $100,000 to Sandy Hook families
The satirical news site The Onion isn’t waiting to take possession of Infowars to launch a parody of Alex Jones’ conspiracy platform.
Mystery box shows are complicated for everyone
Silo’s third season is bigger and more ambitious.
There’s one big reason socialist voters may not get what they want
The left’s new vision is running into an old problem.
Cost-Free Entertainment Platforms Propel Growth in the Ad-Supported Streaming TV Sector
The FAST market is driven by increasing consumer adoption of cost-free streaming, expanding ad-supported content, and enhanced personal advertising technologies. This growth is further accelerated by smart TV integration, diverse content offerings, and rising digital video libraries, notably in Asia-Pacific. Free Advertisement (Ad)-Supported Streaming Television (TV) (FAST) Market Free Advertisement (Ad)-Supported Streaming Television (TV) (FAST) Market Dublin, July 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Vinton Cerf says AI must learn these 3 lessons
From standardization to turning a product into a platform, Vinton Cerf said there are lessons AI must learn from the internet boom.
Here’s everything new in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 [Gallery]
With Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 today, Google is rolling out a third wave of bug fixes for Pixel devices and Platform Stability...
Android 17 QPR1 hits Platform Stability with today's Beta 6 release
Google has announced that Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 is releasing today, which includes several fixes and improvements.
Securitize Completes Business Combination with Cantor Equity Partners II
/PRNewswire/ -- Securitize Corp. ("Securitize"), the world's leading tokenization platform with over $4 billion in assets brought onchain, today announced the...
Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX’s AI phone prototype
Musk says the report is “utterly false.”
Krafton settles with Subnautica 2 developer after drawn-out dispute over $250 million
The battle is over.
Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection
Microsoft’s disc-to-digital feature could be essential for next-gen Xbox consoles.
WHO Health Emergencies EPI-WIN webinar: Strengthening the governance of national public health agencies for emergency preparedness and response
This webinar will provide a platform to present the main findings of the cross-country study on governance of National Public Health Agencies for emergency preparedness and response and bring country perspectives from different governance models on how governance arrangements shape emergency action in practice.
My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase
One of the best e-readers just got $30 cheaper.
The Kaedan Korczak-Parker Wotherspoon trade is simply smart business
It is not a major move that moves the needle for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it is still a smart move.
Melat Kiros is the first political star truly formed by the 2020s
What’s behind her shocking victory against a 30-year incumbent in Colorado — according to the candidate herself.
Meta to sell excess AI computing capacity via cloud business, Bloomberg News reports
Meta Platforms is building a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.
Sony is closing the PS3 and Vita digital stores
The virtual PS3 store will close in select markets this year, with global closures for PS3 and PS Vita following in 2027.
Meta Is Building a Cloud Business to Sell Excess AI Compute
Meta Platforms Inc. is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, setting up a new vector of competition with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs
New games released after January 2028 will be digital-only.
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
Marketers pivot to TikTok, YouTube to target Gen Z shoppers
Top marketers are shifting their platform priorities to target Gen Z and Gen Alpha. They are using Pinterest, YouTube, AI tools, and other methods.