A Quarter of Physical Game Releases Already Need Downloads to Work

The argument that physical game discs guarantee a playable future is crumbling. Preservation testers at DoesItPlay report that 27% of physical releases they have tested require some kind of download to function, with the figure rising to 34% for PlayStation 5 games and 50% for Xbox Series X titles, Ars Technica reported on July 30.

The DoesItPlay Database

DoesItPlay began in 2019 as a Twitter account and has grown into a searchable database of thousands of physical game tests. The group's methodology determines how much the core experience is impacted when a game is played exclusively from the disc or cartridge. A full 27% of tested physical releases fail to deliver a complete offline experience.

What's Missing on Disc

Some games ship in a buggy state and need patches to be playable. The group cites the infamous console launch of Cyberpunk 2077 as a prime example. Others ship with only a small stub on the disc and require a massive download for the rest — recent releases like Doom: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and The Outer Worlds 2 fall into this category. A third group, including Hogwarts Legacy, Jedi Survivor, and the Oblivion Remaster, inserts mandatory download prompts that halt progress without an internet connection.

Platform Differences

DoesItPlay owner Clemens Itsel told Ars Technica that Microsoft is the worst offender for complete disc releases, while Sony's physical releases tend to be more playable out of the box but have declined in recent years. Nintendo Switch cartridges fare better, though Game Key Cards that contain no game data are becoming more common.

The Preservation Problem

When platform update servers eventually shut down, discs that depend on them will become unplayable. Sony recently announced it will stop producing physical PlayStation games by 2028, intensifying the debate over whether game companies are treating physical media as a legacy format rather than a long-term ownership mechanism.

Why It Matters

For collectors and preservationists, the trend calls into question what a physical purchase actually buys. If a disc is merely a license check that routes to a server, the difference between physical and digital may soon be cosmetic.