Silent Hill 2 Remake CEO Vows to Keep Physical Games Alive

Ever wonder if your game shelf will become a relic? Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno isn't ready to let that happen. In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, the man behind the Silent Hill 2 Remake made it clear: physical games still matter, and he wants to keep making them for as long as he can.

The topic came up while discussing Onyx: The Dark Grip, an upcoming horror game from Bloober Team and its publishing arm Broken Mirror Games. It's set to be one of the first Switch 2-exclusive third-party horror titles and the first built entirely for handheld mode. But the conversation quickly turned to the bigger picture—especially with PlayStation pledging to stop disc production by 2028.

"If we are able to produce a [physical] retail version of our games, we would like to make them for as long as possible," Babieno said. He was joined by Tymon Smektala, former Dying Light franchise director and now executive director at Broken Mirror Games. Both reminisced about their roots as collectors. "Both me and Piotr, we are from the era where being a gamer meant you are a collector of stuff," Smektala said, gesturing to the shelves behind him during the video call. "This is what gaming is to us."

Babieno gets why publishers like Sony are going digital—"digital distribution is much easier, much cheaper, and will be more profitable for everyone," he admitted. But he also sees the emotional side. "Collecting games also [made] an emotional connection between the game and me, between the studio which produced the game and me," he explained. "This little emotional touch is so important that, I think in some way, we would lose the opportunity of being closer with our fans [without it]."

Beyond physical media, Babieno shared his thoughts on the future of consoles. With visual and audio fidelity hitting a plateau, he believes the next frontier is other senses. "We have reached a moment where you can't really do much more in that direction," he said. "Like, okay, the game can have a slightly higher resolution and maybe better lighting and whatever, but will it make it a more engaging game? I don't think so." He also pointed out that most players are on hardware that's five, seven, or more years old, so they don't even experience those high-level settings. "I think, especially in the age of AI, it's actually quite interesting to start thinking about other senses."

That philosophy ties directly into Onyx: The Dark Grip, which is designed exclusively for Switch 2's handheld mode—"putting horror back in your hands" in a physical sense. "As humans, we have four other senses, and AI can deliver something for what you see, for what you hear, but why not touch?" Babieno mused. "I think the physical element of gaming will always, always be there."

So, will you be picking up Onyx: The Dark Grip when it launches? And more importantly, how long do you think physical games will stick around? Let us know in the comments!