Hideo Kojima Says the End of Physical Games Is Frightening

Hideo Kojima expresses concern over the move away from physical media. He believes forthcoming decisions reshape the meaning of ownership, potentially limiting future access to games and movies.

Earlier this week, PlayStation announced that it would cease production of physical game discs in 2028. In the wake of this announcement, many players fear a digital-only future and the risk of losing purchased content from their libraries at any time due to expiring licensing agreements or other circumstances beyond their control.

This announcement also came just days after PlayStation removed over 500 movies from the PlayStation Store and from the libraries of those who previously purchased them following the expiration of an agreement with Studio Canal.

Hideo Kojima Discusses the Risks of a Streaming-Only Future in Gaming

Now, Hideo Kojima is expressing his feelings about the ongoing shift to a digital world. The Metal Gear Solid creator is also concerned about what this means going forward and how the concept of ownership is changing.

Speaking at the Il Cinema in Piazza Film Festival in Italy, Kojima hypothesizes that gaming could become similar to movies on a streaming platform and subject to removal at any moment. This is a prospective future that frightens him. You can read his full statement, translated by Genki, below:

Since production is ending in 2028, this is about video games, but I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad. Currently, I’ve been buying up a lot of Blu-rays, such as various movies, and CDs too.

The situation is different for games, as they are downloaded to the hard drive, that means the game data remains on your own hardware. However, if things shift to streaming in the future, that won’t be the case anymore.

With streaming subscription services, like Netflix or Amazon, there is a server somewhere, and you essentially just have the right to turn the tap, and when you do, the data flows out. That’s how movies work on these platforms, right? You don’t download the data, you access it directly through a subscription. And the consequence of that is that you don’t actually possess the data yourself.

There are companies that own these servers and let you ‘turn the tap’ for a monthly fee. However, with nations, politics and various ways of thinking, one naturally has to consider the possibility that if there is a change, the data inside will stop being distributed. And if that happens you won’t be able to watch or play the movies and games you like.

That is what is frightening.

So, what is happening to video games in 2028, might also happen to movies. I’d like everyone to keep that in mind.

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