Ken Kutaragi has chimed in on PlayStation’s plans to stop making physical games.
In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Ken acknowledged the public’s negative reception to the announcement.
However, Ken also believes it is no longer ‘economically reasonable’ to keep making discs in favor of digital downloads.
Ken said this:
I understand that physical discs have become a metaphor for ‘owning’ games. I really understand that mentality… But nobody thinks [physical media] is necessary for a networked device like a smartphone, for example, because people feel that they will keep their content. So it’s a mentality.
I really understand [why some people are upset], but I don’t think it’s economically reasonable. Maybe it’s a mentality issue.
This follows fellow former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida exclaiming that he doesn’t understand why this has become an issue. While neither work at Sony today, their statements surprisingly indicate that they don’t understand their audience as much as we thought they did.