On Monday, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced the return of its State of Play and State of Play Japan broadcasts. Event confirmation came from PlayStation.Blog Japan’s Sachie Kobari, who says the brand’s showcases will air this Thursday, September 3, with one program immediately following the other.
“State of Play returns Thursday, September 3 with two broadcasts airing back-to-back,” Kobari writes.
“First, tune in for a new State of Play featuring updates and announcements from PlayStation Studios and our third-party partners, concluding with an extended look at the vast world of Final Fantasy VII Revelation from our friends at Square Enix.”
According to Kobari, the State of Play Japan showcase will air right after the first showcase winds down. “Immediately following, stay tuned for a new episode of State of Play Japan, once again hosted by Yuki Kaji. State of Play Japan will offer deep dives into upcoming games from game studios in Japan and Asia, including new gameplay, announcements, and more.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s dual State of Play broadcasts will air live on Thursday, September 3, 2026, beginning at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET/3 p.m. CEST/10 p.m. JST on the brands’ YouTube and Twitch channels.
The first of two State of Play broadcasts will air in English with optional Japanese subtitles; conversely, State of Play Japan will air in Japanese with optional English subtitles.
Pro-disc players stifle new Sony Interactive Entertainment announcement — again
Virtually all SIE hype has been quickly quashed by physical media proponents following the brand’s controversial decision last month to wind down video game disc production by January 2028. The C-suite strategy served as the back-breaking straw for increasingly disillusioned gamers, driving many to drop critical comments on Sony’s State of Play announcement.
“When do the discs return?” asked one verified PlayStation Plus subscriber.
“How about Discs, you know, physical copies?” questioned another.
Emojis speak louder than words; several replies show only CD emojis.
Less than one day after Sony’s decision to drop the disc, PNP Games Inc.’s Jade Pearce launched a Change.org petition titled “Don’t Kill the Disc: Tell Sony to Keep Physical PlayStation Games.” The digital campaign quickly made headlines, amassing nearly 377,000 John Hancocks and more than 15,000 comments.
“We are not against digital,” Pearce explains in the description of their Change petition. “We are against digital being the only option. A large and passionate community still wants a real, physical game they own outright, and Sony is about to take that choice away.”
Sony’s Phantom Blade Zero State of Play livestream earlier this month generated similarly frustrated feedback through the broadcast’s unlocked comment section.
Don’t forget other major gaming brands’ attempts to muddy game ownership
Player grievances aren’t with the digital medium itself; gamers’ concerns lie with powerful triple-A studios’ ability to actually own games. Digital-only game sales mean gamers essentially rent software access rather than own it, despite paying just as much — likely, more — for tangible CDs and cartridges.
These significant industry shifts leave players wondering whether studios can use their power to delist or deny paying players access at any time, for any reason.
SIE isn’t the only brand to shift metaphorical gears; Nintendo introduced controversial Game-Key Cards alongside its Switch 2 handheld in June 2025, which represent physical media but do not contain playable software.
Even Japan’s National Diet Library (NDL) took issue with Nintendo’s new quasi-cartridges; in August 2025, the NDL declared them ineligible for cultural preservation.
As far as XBOX goes, parent company Microsoft maintains that “[a]ll Digital Goods are licensed, not sold,” and gamers’ “right to access or use any Digital Good is subject to your compliance with” license terms, limitations, and other guidelines. Microsoft Support says these usage rules apply to “Windows, Movies & TV, Xbox Consoles, Xbox Services,” and “Minecraft.”
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