Question 17944 — consumption

Summary

Mr. Pouria Amirshahi draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty to the consequences for the consumer of the planned disappearance of video games marketed on physical media. This July 1, 2026, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that from January 2028, new games marketed on PlayStation consoles would no longer be offered on disc but exclusively in digital form. This development, if it were to be confirmed, raises several questions regarding consumer protection. Indeed, the disappearance of physical media would deprive users of the possibility of reselling, lending, giving or transmitting the games they acquire, while reinforcing their dependence on a single platform for access to their content. This decision questions also the sustainability of digital purchases. Thus, PlayStation announced the deletion, as of September 1, 2026, of several hundred films and programs previously presented as “purchased” by their users, due to the expiration of licensing agreements. This situation raises the question of the use of the term "purchase" for content to which access can be withdrawn unilaterally, without the possibility of conservation, resale or reimbursement. In addition, the disappearance of physical games also raises environmental questions: online games are much more energy-consuming at a time when sobriety must be essential. Finally, many consumers have acquired, sometimes recently, consoles equipped with a disc player or players sold separately in order to continue to use physical games, without having to been informed in advance of an imminent disappearance of this format. He therefore asks what measures the Government intends to take to guarantee fair information to consumers on the nature and durability of the digital content they acquire. He would also like to know whether the Government plans to change the applicable framework in order to better protect consumer rights in the event of permanent deletion of a content presented as “purchased”, to preserve the conditions for effective competition in the video game market and to assess the economic and social consequences of the disappearance of physical media on prices, the second-hand market and consumer usage.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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