PS4 Game-Sharing Meme Returns in 2026, But There's No Disc to Pass

Remember that legendary 22-second PS4 game-sharing video from E3 2013? You know the one—Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes casually passing a disc to each other, absolutely dunking on Microsoft's Xbox One DRM plans. Well, it just got a 2026 remix, and honestly, it hits different.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Yoshida and Boyes reunited to recreate that iconic meme. But here's the twist: this time, there's no disc to pass between friends. The original clip, famously thrown together at the last second, showed how easy it was for PS4 owners to share physical games—a stark contrast to the frequent DRM checks Xbox One initially planned. That simple stunt gave Sony a massive PR win and became a piece of gaming history.

A lot has changed since then. Boyes left Sony in 2016, and Yoshida said he was "fired" from his role as SIE worldwide president in 2019. He eventually departed in 2025 after leading Sony's Independent Developer Initiative for several years. But the bigger shift? Sony announced months ago that it would stop producing game discs altogether. That decision hasn't sat well with users or third-party partners.

Sony's reasoning is simple: digital sales dominate, so why not go all-digital? It cuts retail costs and makes the PlayStation Store the only game in town, boosting first-party revenue. But for players, there are real concerns. The PlayStation Store typically offers no refunds on purchased games and lacks features that would make the digital-only transition smoother. Compared to a platform like Steam, it feels like a step backwards.

And then there's the elephant in the room: you're not actually buying a game—you're buying a license to play it. Sony is currently arguing in a class-action lawsuit that it doesn't mislead customers into thinking they own their digital games, claiming it's "not plausible" for consumers to believe they own their digital products. Meanwhile, Microsoft's disc-to-digital program has been received positively, letting Xbox owners unlock digital licenses for their physical games—though not all publishers have joined in.

So here we are, 13 years after that triumphant E3 moment, watching the same two guys recreate the meme with an empty hand. It's a funny callback, but it also feels like a mirror held up to where the industry is heading. The disc is gone, and with it, a little piece of what made that original video so powerful.

What do you think—is an all-digital future inevitable, or should Sony keep physical discs alive? Will you be picking up any disc-based games before they disappear for good?