Former PlayStation executives Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes recently reunited at Tokyo Game Show, where they recreated the iconic "PS4 used-game instructional video" from 2013—with one crucial difference: Neither of them was holding a game this time.
Sony fired back at the Xbox One’s controversial physical-game licensing policies with a roughly 20-second video showing the executives simply passing a PS4 game from one person to the other. Its message—"This is how you share your games on PS4"—was a brutal jab at Microsoft. The clip has since racked up more than 21 million views on YouTube and remains one of the most memorable PlayStation promos ever made.
Thirteen years later, however, the stunt has taken on an ironic new meaning. Sony has announced that it will end physical disc production for all new PlayStation games beginning in January 2028, shifting future releases toward digital distribution. That makes the company’s once-defiant celebration of freely sharing physical games look very different today.
Yoshida shared photos from his reunion with Boyes on social media:
Some fans joked that this was how players would share games with friends in 2028, while others saw the photo as a pointed reminder of how far PlayStation has drifted from the principles it promoted back then.
Sony previously said the decision to end physical disc production reflects consumers’ growing preference for digital releases, adding that it does not expect the move to negatively affect its business. Microsoft, meanwhile, has recently begun allowing some Xbox players to claim digital versions of supported physical games—adding another ironic twist to the physical-media battle of 2026.