CI Games still plans to release Lords of the Fallen 2 on disc in 2027, even though CEO Marek Tyminski says the business case for physical media is becoming harder to defend. Physical copies leave far less money with developers, take longer to reach stores, and create costs that many publishers are no longer willing to absorb in a digital-first market.

The future of physical games has become even more uncertain since Sony’s planned 2028 end to disc production for new PlayStation releases. The decision has triggered strong reactions from players, preservation advocates and publishers alike, while more companies are trying to determine how long boxed releases remain worth supporting. Marek Tyminski, CEO of CI Games, acknowledges that investing in physical media is becoming increasingly difficult, but he has also made it clear that his studio is not ready to abandon it completely.

Tyminski also pointed to a curious detail connected to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In the game’s trailer, the protagonist selects videos from a huge CD collection on a Sony player, while Naughty Dog has chosen the same scene as its cover image on X. Many have taken that as a sign that Sony’s growing distance from physical media is not a development everyone inside the wider PlayStation ecosystem is prepared to ignore.

The CI Games executive focused most of his attention on GTA 6, however, after reports suggested that its retail box could include a download code instead of a disc. Tyminski believes decisions like that could persuade publishers to abandon physical releases well before 2028. The problem is not just that the disc market is shrinking, but that its future has become so uncertain that many studios may no longer see a reason to keep funding the manufacturing and distribution chain for a format requested by fewer and fewer buyers.

“Physical media generates significantly less revenue per unit for developers, longer wait times, and unnecessary costs in a demanding industry where many are already losing money. We still want to release Lords of the Fallen 2 on disc, but from a business perspective, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify when physical media represents considerably less than 20% of sales, and considering recent events.”

Marek Tyminski Also Calculated What a Single Physical Copy Actually Returns

Using a $69.99 physical copy as an example, Tyminski explained why the difference has become so punishing. Once the retailer takes a margin of around 25 to 35 percent, the distributor receives another 10 to 20 percent, and manufacturing costs remove roughly $10 per unit, the studio is left with only a little more than $26. A digital sale, by contrast, can leave the developer with nearly $49, creating almost twice as much revenue from the same list price.

Tyminski sees that gap as a dilemma now affecting the entire industry, especially as decisions by Sony and Rockstar Games further weaken confidence in the future of physical releases. A significant group of players still defends discs for preservation, resale, lending and collecting, but studios are looking at a very different balance sheet. Even companies that genuinely want to preserve boxed editions are finding it harder to justify them, because in a market increasingly dominated by digital sales, the revenue gap between the two models has become too large to ignore.

Source: 3DJuegos