Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that starting January 2028, all new PlayStation games(first-party and third-party) for consoles will be sold digitally only, either through the PlayStation Store or as digital codes at retail. Games released before January 2028 aren’t affected. But what happens to countries without PlayStation Store support like the Philippines?
The lack of a PlayStation Store support in the Philippines
It’s a worldwide announcement, but it got us thinking: what about gamers here in the Philippines? We still don’t have an official PSN store. Filipino PlayStation owners have long had to register accounts under Singapore, Hong Kong, or the US just to buy games digitally, since Sony has never officially supported local billing here. Discs have been the simplest way for a lot of PH gamers to actually own their games without jumping through region-lock hoops.
So when discs go away in 2028, it’s going to be a major problem, as it could mean an even more complicated road to just buying a game. On the other hand, this could mean we finally get a storefront specifically for the Philippines with local pricing, but so far, no such announcement has been made.
With this type of news, plus PlayStation 5 consoles getting a major price increase in the Philippines back in May, it’s not a very good year for console gamers in general.
We’ll be watching closely to see if this finally pushes Sony to open up proper PSN support for the Philippines, or if it leaves local gamers with even fewer options than before.
We’ve reached out to Sony for comment on this issue and will update this post if we hear back.
Related – PS3 and PS Vita PlayStation Stores Shutting Down in 2027
About the Author – Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
