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This sell signal for stocks just hit most extreme level in 5 years
Bank of America's Bull & Bear Indicator is flashing a "sell" signal as investor bullishness looks to be unshakeable.
Dishonest telemarketers are selling fake health insurance, leaving Minnesotans in the lurch
The state Commerce Department warns a handful of bad actors are preying on vulnerable people as it issues fines against several companies.
Dumb Co dared me to trade my iPhone for a hacked flip phone
Dumb Co sells flip phones that sync to your smartphone, bridging the infinite connectivity of the iPhone and the unrealistic limitations of an early 2000s relic.
Half of small-business owners hope to sell their companies and retire in the next decade. What happens to their workers?
“It’s an American tragedy” when small businesses close up shop.
Bayer sells stake in contraceptives business to Apollo in €3bn financing deal
Sale will help German pharmaceuticals group to bolster its balance sheet after years of litigation over Roundup weedkiller
Tofu vendor delivers much more than healthy food to an east Tokyo neighborhood
Akiko Sugaya wheels a cart through the alley-like streets of eastern Tokyo selling tofu, the protein-rich staple favored in much of Asia.
Tofu vendor delivers much more than healthy food to an east Tokyo neighborhood
Akiko Sugaya wheels a cart through the alley-like streets of eastern Tokyo selling tofu, the protein-rich staple favored in much of Asia.
7 big questions ahead of the MLB trade deadline: Will the Tigers and Red Sox sell? What will the Yankees and Dodgers do? And more
AMC Entertainment (AMC) Among Our Best Penny Stocks According to Billionaires
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) is one of the Best Penny Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. Recently, on June 25, AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) announced the closing of a registered direct stock offering by selling 95,250,000 shares at $2.00 each. The company raised approximately $200 million in gross proceeds. Management noted that […]
Where Buster Posey, Giants stand with MLB trade deadline less than a month away
Buster Posey said the Giants would need to win a lot to avoid a selloff. But the winning hasn't happened, making the next few weeks very interesting.
New York attorney general files lawsuit against makers of PFAS chemicals
The lawsuit alleges that the companies that make PFAS chemicals knew about their toxic characteristics and continued to make and sell them.
Banijay & All3Media Complete Merger, Creating $8BN Production-Distribution Giant
Banijay Entertainment and All3Media have completed their merger, creating a new London-based production and distribution giant that makes and sells shows including The Traitors, Big Brother, MasterChe...
Anthropic’s new Claude feature is quietly selling you on AI
Claude’s new Reflect dashboard doesn’t just visualize how you use AI. It also subtly reinforces how much of your daily work now depends on Anthropic’s chatbot.
Vendors, food and entertainment return for 53 Art in the Park
West Lincoln Part will come to life this weekend with live music, tasty delights, a beer tent and 153 vendors selling handmade goods and arts from across the region. The ironic event is celebrating its...
‘A special place to be’: Fussell’s in Dickson celebrates 90 years in business
On North Main Street in Dickson, it may look like a men’s clothing store, but you’re stepping into nearly 90 years of local history.
Australia agrees to sell uranium to India, ending a long stalemate
Australia has agreed to sell uranium to India for peaceful purposes.
Walnut Creek street festival implements new entertainment zone
On Wednesday evening, the Locust Street Festival in downtown became the first event to utilize Walnut Creek's new entertainment zone initiative so restaurants and bars can sell alcohol outside for people to enjoy outdoors within the designated festival area.
The $80 Billion Debt Cloud Hanging Over David Ellison’s Warner Deal
The Paramount CEO has promised not to sell off assets or cut content spending.
Democrats Face a Maine-Size Mess After Platner Withdraws
The party is getting a redo, but will they blow it?
Fertitta Entertainment outlines financing, regulatory and anti-trust review process for private takeover of Caesars
With a competing bid from billionaire investor Carl Icahn looming and no plans to sell Wynn Resorts stock, Fertitta Entertainment executives outlined to Nevada
Why is the Google Store selling a Galaxy Watch 8?
A rather unexpected Google Play Store promotion today sees the Google Store sell you a Samsung Galaxy Watch 8...
United must face lawsuit over 'window seats' that don't have windows, judge rules
A federal judge ruled passengers plausibly alleged United Airlines breached its agreement by selling certain window seats without an actual window, allowing the proposed class action to proceed.
Douglas Elliman Bets on AI to Reinvent Brokerage Business
Luxury real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman Inc. is betting artificial intelligence can expand its business beyond buying and selling homes.
Exclusive | Trump-Backed Company Behind Family Crypto Wealth in Talks to Sell Core Business
The potential sale by AI Financial marks an abrupt reversal for a company that has channeled more than half a billion dollars to the Trumps.
Should You Keep or Sell the Family Business? - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM NORTHERN TRUST
Sponsor content from Northern Trust.
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) Leaves An Index, Is The Stock Still Undervalued?
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) was recently removed from the Russell 2000 Dynamic Index, a change that can affect how some index-linked funds treat the stock, as well as how investors think about liquidity and visibility. See our latest analysis for Accel Entertainment. The recent index removal comes as Accel Entertainment’s share price sits at $12.42, with a 90-day share price return of 6.61% and a 3-year total shareholder return of 16.07%. This suggests momentum has been building over the...
The NATO summit was supposed to focus on defense spending. Trump’s strikes on Iran changed that
President Donald Trump has thrown a major twist into a NATO summit in Turkey by launching a series of strikes on Iran and revoking a license that allowed Tehran to sell its oil on the world market.
ResMed to sell software business MatrixCare for $490 million
ResMed said on Tuesday it would sell its software business MatrixCare to private equity firm Frazier Healthcare Partners for $490 million in cash, as the health technology company sharpens its focus on sleep, breathing and home-based care.
Explaining The Comcast and NBCUniversal Divorce
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July in America, celebrating the country’s 250th birthday. Frankly, I am bummed the 250th wasn’t a bigger celebration, but that’s a different topic for a different Substack. While it was generally a quiet week on the entertainment/streaming/media business fronts, we still had some interesting news stories. Actually, that kinda undersells one of the stories, a huge, huge, huge divestment that could upend the entertainment landscape... So let’s get right to it. In today’s column, I’ll cover Comcast spinning off the rest of NBCUniversal, an entertainment company investing in an LLM company and an LLM-owner investing in a movie studio, the latest round of threats of digital tariffs, and more. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Most: Comcast/NBCU Breakup!!!! If I had to describe my reaction to Comcast spinning out NBCUniversal, it feels like a relationship ending, either breaking up or divorcing. Comcast’s decision to spin off the rest of NBCUniversal, after spinning off some of its cable assets into Versant last year, really does feel like a family breaking up under “irreconcilable differences”. Of my stereotypes of the entertainment moguls, my go-to for Comcast CEO Brian Roberts—heir to the Comcast fortune, but a man who’s been at the helm for 24 years now, and president for twelve years before that—is that he likes building empires. He cut his teeth acquiring cable rivals in the 1990s and tried to buy Disney repeatedly, then settled for NBCUniversal after a long court battle. (Contrast this with Rupert Murdoch, a man who also loved to buy, but would also sell when the price is right. Murdoch made Fox out of nothing, but then sold 20th Century Fox to Disney, arguably at the top of the market. So I understood why he sold.) But I don’t understand Roberts’ motivation to sell now. I have some explanations but no single, super-satisfying explanation. Strategically, it would just make more sense to have kept NBCUniversal in-house, especially for a one-time empire builder like Comcast. Yet one powerful force—arguably the decider in modern capitalism—likely overwhelmed all other considerations. At first, I thought I’d arrange my thoughts as a “Five Why” analysis, digging through each layer of the puzzle. But instead, I found myself asking, “But…why?” (And I only ended up with four sections.) So let’s look at Comcast from that angle. Then, at the end, I’ll give my biggest strategic recommendation for every company in Hollywood. It’s obvious, but sometimes, the obvious strategy is the most ignored. But…Why? The Stock Market, Conglomerations, and Sum of the Parts Analysis We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Why Comcast could never get a “tech company” valuation The not-so-secret motivation for Comcast What Versant has to do with all of this The key strategic advice I think every entertainment exec should follow (though it’s really obvious) Some big AI investment news… Whether we’ll see digital tariffs… And more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
The top selling sports cards in June as grading volume hit record highs
Basketball and baseball dominated the sports card market in June as grading backlogs start to raise concerns.
The Nintendo Switch's days are numbered—but what is that number?
Ars analysis suggests the 9-year-old console could keep selling for years.
‘Love and Other Words’ Adaptation a Go From Magic Hour Entertainment
Max Siemers and Tanner Anderson are behind the new company, which will adapt Christina Lauren’s best-selling novel of the same of the name centered on childhood friends turned first loves who reconnect as adults.
‘Love and Other Words’ Adaptation Set With the Newly Formed Magic Hour Entertainment (Exclusive)
Max Siemers and Tanner Anderson are behind the new company, which will adapt Christina Lauren’s best-selling novel of the same of the name centered on childhood friends turned first loves who reconnec...
Food giant behind Spam, Planters sells operations in ‘challenged’ market
The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Smart Glasses Now Have 'Privacy Kits' to Protect You From Getting Punched in the Face
Solos is selling accessories that make its smart glasses a little more palatable.
Nintendo confirms plans to continue selling Switch 1 outside of Europe
Following yesterday’s news pertaining to Europe, Nintendo has confirmed that the original Switch will continue to be sold in all major regions. A couple of announcements were made yesterday. One thing we heard is that Nintendo Switch will no longer be sold in Europe starting in early 2027. It wasn’t entirely clear what would be happening elsewhere. Nintendo didn’t provide...
Make the Business Case for Your Sustainability Initiative
Sustainability proposals often stall not because they lack merit, but because they are framed in a language that does not match how senior leaders allocate capital. While CSOs tend to emphasize impact, materiality, and disclosure, CFOs and CEOs need to understand cash flow, risk, and return. External reporting frameworks are useful for accountability, but they are poorly suited to internal investment decisions, which require project-level comparisons rather than aggregated enterprise metrics. Sustainability investments should therefore be evaluated like any other investment: by showing how they reduce current costs, avoid future costs, generate new revenue, or protect existing revenue. Strong cases begin with a clear business story that links the proposed action to a specific business impact and cash-flow outcome, then quantify what can credibly be quantified while treating harder-to-measure benefits as either upside or an explicit strategic bet.
Michael Burry hit back after Trump jeered short sellers
Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame said President Trump wouldn't understand his approach after Trump said short sellers were being "wiped out."
A Business Owner Paid Himself a Low Salary for Decades to Save on Taxes. The Trade-Off Shows Up Now, in a Smaller Social Security Check, and Selling the Company Won’t Fix It.
A 66-year-old business owner running an S-corporation for decades is planning his exit. A buyer is circling, and he expects the sale to fund retirement. When it came time for him to request his Social Security statement, the projected monthly benefit was lower than expected. Friends with W-2 careers and similar lifestyles were getting noticeably ... A Business Owner Paid Himself a Low Salary for Decades to Save on Taxes. The Trade-Off Shows Up Now, in a Smaller Social Security Check, and Selling
Why Buyers Pay More For Businesses With Recurring Revenue
Learn why recurring revenue increases business value, reduces buyer risk, and helps founders build a more predictable and sellable company.
Jenkins would leave Newport if best for club
Newport County owner Huw Jenkins is prepared to sell up and walk away from the club if a new investor sought a complete takeover.
Williamson Health board approves sale to Ascension
FRANKLIN — Williamson Health's Board of Trustees voted Monday unanimously to sell the community-owned hospital system to Ascension Saint Thomas in a deal valued at $700 million.
Northern Trust sells $1.2B guardianship business to Wintrust
The deal boosts Wintrust’s assets under management in its wealth management business by $1.2 billion.
Young entrepreneurs to run businesses at Hampstead Youth Farmers’ Market
Entrepreneurs aged 5-17 will sell handmade goods and learn business skills at the third annual Hampstead Youth Farmers’ Market.
Xbox cuts 3,200 jobs as gaming business struggles
As Microsoft continues to invest majorly into AI, it's gaming division, Xbox, is making major cuts to its workforce and selling several of its studios.
Why Buy a Small Power Bank When Anker's 160W 14-Port Docking Station Is Back to Near-Black Friday Pricing?
For a limited time, you can grab this 14-in-1 solution selling for nearly $100 off at Amazon.
Nielsen eyes further methodology changes ahead of football season
It appears as if Nielsen is preparing to find yet another way to keep sports viewership trending upward ahead of the upcoming football season. The audience-measurement firm, whose data is treated as the gold standard within the television business and is the currency by which networks sell advertising to media buyers, plans to formally roll…
Nintendo will stop selling the Nintendo Switch in 2027
Sales of the console on the Nintendo Store will conclude in February…
Why Meta's potential cloud business 'makes a lot of sense'
Gradient general partner Darian Shirazi joins Yahoo Finance to share his take on recent reports about Meta (META) potentially selling excess compute.
Club XYZ nixed liquidation to sell bar assets to new tenant, owner says
The owner of Club XYZ canceled a liquidation sale after selling the Knoxville gay bar's equipment to the incoming Happy Holler business.
ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn
The two broadcasters say the deal will create a strong rival to global streaming giants.
ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn
The two broadcasters say the deal will create a strong rival to global streaming giants.
UK’s ITV to sell media and entertainment unit to Comcast’s Sky for $2.1 billion
UK’s ITV to sell media and entertainment unit to Comcast’s Sky for $2.1 billion
UK's ITV to sell media and entertainment unit to Comcast's Sky for $2.1 billion
British broadcaster ITV said on Monday it had agreed to sell its media and entertainment division to Comcast's Sky for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion).
Continental Agrees to Sell ContiTech Business to Lone Star Funds
Continental expects the deal to generate cash proceeds of approximately 3.1 billion euros, some of which will be used to cut debt, with around 2.5 billion euros distributed to shareholders.
BUSINESS MONDAY: Spotlight on West Side Clock Shop in Pittsfield
This family-run business has stood the test of time—selling, servicing, and repairing clocks for 66 years.
PENN Entertainment (PENN) Opens New Aurora Casino As Valuation Debate Heats Up
Index moves and a new Illinois casino put PENN in focus PENN Entertainment (PENN) has just opened its US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also moving from the Russell 1000 family into several Russell 2000 indices. See our latest analysis for PENN Entertainment. The recent opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora and PENN Entertainment’s move into several Russell 2000 indices comes alongside a 50.17% 3 month share price return and a 19.13% 1 year total...
Meccha Chameleon tops another milestone, selling 15 million copies in less than 30 days
The indie developer said "thanks a million", promising "a new collaboration with a famous Japanese star" is dropping next week.
Report: Bayern Munich sporting chief under pressure to sell players
FC Bayern has work to do to close out the transfer window.
‘All kinds of weird’: novelty store to open in midtown Sacramento
Ginger & Raven will operate on 1731 L St. selling novelty and accessory items such as keychains, compacts and Italian charm bracelets.
INSIGHT: Getting direct about the politics behind the August amendment
Dr. Russell Arben Fox, File photo By RUSSEL FOXProfessor of Political
Newcastle slap huge price tag on Arsenal target Bruno Guimaraes
Newcastle United reportedly want a £77 million fee to sell Bruno Guimaraes, who is attracting strong interest from Arsenal. The Gunners are looking to bolster their options in central midfield, and ...
GTA 6 On Track To Overthrow The Best-Selling Video Game Of All-Time
If any game can do it, it's got to be GTA 6
How Flutter’s Removal from Key Russell Growth Indices Will Impact Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Investors
In late June 2026, Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE: FLUT) was removed from multiple Russell growth benchmarks, including the Russell 1000 Growth, Russell 3000 Growth, Russell Midcap Growth, Russell 3000E Growth, and Russell Small Cap Comp Growth indices. This broad index exclusion matters because it can prompt passive and index-tracking investors to sell shares, potentially amplifying trading volumes and sentiment shifts around Flutter’s stock. Next, we’ll examine how Flutter’s removal from...
The World Cup is just now discovering Middle America’s big heart. These Irish bingo kingpins built a $24 million business knowing it all along
Craig Reynolds and Will Meara launched Bingo Loco in a Dublin basement in 2017. Nine years later, Locomotive sells a million tickets a year in 300 cities.
George Russell Cannot Explain His Silverstone Sprint Pace
George Russell finished fifth in British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone, just under four tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and behind…
Love, science and resurrection collide in Christina Lauren’s ‘The Romance Revival’
Under the Radar speak with New York Times best-selling authors Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings about their latest novel
After Sony Kills PS5 Discs and GTA 6 is Just a Code in a Box, Xbox Is Using Halo: Campaign Evolved's Physical Disc as a Selling Point
Microsoft is using the fact that Halo: Campaign Evolved will offer a physical game disc in its box as a selling point.
Iran exploring oil sales to Japan, buyers seek longer sanctions waiver, sources
Iran has begun talks to sell oil to Japanese companies, though prospective buyers are seeking a longer U.S. sanctions waiver and reassurances on safe shipping conditions in the Gulf, three Iranian and Western sources said.
Dave Portnoy reveals he is losing millions in brutal Bitcoin crash
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy admits he doesn't have plans to sell Bitcoin despite its volatile nature and his struggle to predict the cryptocurrency's next move.
Al-Sadd fail in swoop for Marseille’s Nayef Aguerd
Qatari club Al-Sadd have failed in their attempts to sign Olympique de Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd (30), as per a report from Foot Mercato.Marseille need to sell players this summer. Whilst the L...
LeBron James’ Lakers rift stemmed from failed Russell Westbrook saga
LeBron James’ tenure with the Lakers is over after he informed the NBA franchise he’d spent the past eight seasons with that he’ll sign elsewhere in free agency. While both...
Buy, sell or stand pat? Sizing up the MLB trade deadline plans for the Nationals, Marlins, Blue Jays and more
Anderson strikes tentative deal to sell forage business
Sale would allow company to pay ‘virtually’ all its creditors Anderson Hay has struck a tentative deal with an unnamed “strategic partner” to buy most of its forage business as […]
Accel Entertainment (ACEL): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q1 Earnings?
Accel Entertainment trades at $12.76 per share and has stayed right on track with the overall market, gaining 12.2% over the last six months. At the same time, the S&P 500 has returned 9.3%.
What Makes Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) a Good Investment Bet?
TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Mid Cap Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Strategy fell 7.72% (net) in the quarter compared to -6.35% for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. In the first quarter, markets navigated geopolitical tensions and economic resilience alongside […]
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) After Russell 2000 Exit Has Undervaluation Back In Focus
Index removal puts Accel Entertainment back in focus Accel Entertainment (ACEL) was recently removed from the Russell 2000 Dynamic Index, an event that can influence institutional ownership patterns, index tracking fund flows, and short term trading activity around the stock. See our latest analysis for Accel Entertainment. Against that backdrop, Accel Entertainment’s recent share price moves have been mixed, with a 1-day share price return of 1.27% but a 7-day share price return that...
Millennials Are Buying Blue Collar Small Businesses To AI-Proof Their Future
Young entrepreneurs are snapping up baby boomer-owned plumbing, construction, manufacturing and HVAC companies. Plus: Tips for would-be buyers and sellers.
Nigel Mansell auctions F1 memorabilia for charity
Motorsport fans will be able to buy pieces of Formula 1 history at the auction.
Apple reportedly orders 10M foldable iPhone Ultra models, which could sell for around $2500
Apple plans to manufacture and sell around 10 million foldable iPhone Ultra models, according to a new report. That’s roughly...
Accel Entertainment (ACEL): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q1 Earnings?
Accel Entertainment trades at $12.76 per share and has stayed right on track with the overall market, gaining 12.2% over the last six months. At the same tim...
Priced out: The growing cost of live entertainment
Summer tours are trying to fill seats while keeping up with growing ticket prices. Tickets for the Ed Sheeran concert at U.S. Bank stadium are BOGO through the 4th of July, and the Mystic Lake Amphitheater is doing an offer of four tickets for $99 for select concerts. Meanwhile shows like Noah Kahan are having no problem selling tickets with high ticket prices. Music critic for the Star Tribune Chris Riemenschneider joins All Day to talk about the drama around concert tickets.
Small Businesses Prepare for Shift as Recreational Marijuana Market Takes Shape
Virginia’s legal recreational marijuana market is one year away, but for businesses already selling cannabis products, the transition is happening now.
Meta stock soars as Mark Zuckerberg explores cloud business
Meta shares soared Wednesday on a report that the company is wading into the business of selling cloud computing services and access to AI models.
Here's How Much Your Original Nintendo Wii Is Worth Today
If you were to sell an original Wii console, you could get around $50, but you can get significantly more ($300) if you have the original box.
Meta Plans Cloud Business to Take on Big Tech Rivals
Meta is planning a cloud infrastructure business that will sell AI computing power/model access. That’s according to a report Wednesday (July 1) by
How Investors May Respond To PENN Entertainment (PENN) Aurora Casino Opening And Russell 2000 Shift
PENN Entertainment recently celebrated the grand opening of its new US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also being moved from the Russell 1000 family of indices into the Russell 2000, Russell 2000 Value, and Russell 2000 Dynamic indices as part of the latest rebalancing. This combination of a large-scale brick-and-mortar investment and a shift toward small-cap and value-oriented index inclusion reshapes how both fundamental and index-tracking investors may...
Meta pops 8% as company makes cloud push to sell excess AI compute power capacity
The new business is a welcome signal for some investors who have been uneasy about the company's infrastructure spending plans.
Meta building cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity
The company is weighing plans to sell access to AI models and raw computing capacity, setting up new competition with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud
Meta Stock Rises on Report It’s Building a Cloud Business. CoreWeave Drops.
Meta rises on a report that it hopes to generate revenue from selling excess computing power to third parties. CoreWeave and Nebius are falling.
Meta to sell excess AI computing capacity via cloud business, Bloomberg News reports
Meta Platforms is building a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.
Meta to sell excess AI computing capacity via cloud business, Bloomberg News reports
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Meta Is Building a Cloud Business to Sell Excess AI Compute
Meta Platforms Inc. is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, setting up a new vector of competition with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Trump filing shows he took in about $1.2b from crypto businesses last year
President Trump got more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products, according to the annual disclosure report with the Office of Government Ethics.
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
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