PlayStation 6 Design Leak Leaves Gamers Pleasantly Surprised

Huge news for people who actually enjoy owning video games, because a recent report has revealed that Sony is planning to ship the PlayStation 6 with a specific feature that everyone was certain they’d remove in the next-gen.

During E3 2013, Microsoft endured what was quite possibly its worst PR nightmare to date: the reveal of the Xbox One.

Some of you are likely far too young to remember the debacle, so here’s the short version: Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would be an “always online” device, requiring you to connect to the internet to use your games. They also stated that they were taking aim at second-hand game sales by restricting people from selling their physical Xbox media.

So, what’s that got to do with Sony and the PlayStation 6, you ask?

The thing is, while Microsoft ultimately walked back their plans for the Xbox One due to public outcry, physical media has been slowly dying off regardless.

There was a time when PCs shipped with disc drives as a standard. Video game cartridges and discs used to contain the entirety of a game’s install data, without needing to connect to the internet to install the rest (looking at you, Nintendo Switch 2). Day one patches that essentially make a game unplayable without installing them weren’t a thing back in the early 2000s.

The writing has been on the wall for physical media for a while now, and most of us assumed that the next generation of consoles might end up shipping without disc drives.

According to Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, that's thankfully not going to be the case where the PlayStation 6 is concerned.

Sources (who wished to remain anonymous) revealed to Insider Gaming that the PlayStation 6, much like the PlayStation 5, will offer consumers two different variants at launch: one that's fully digital, and one that comes with a detachable disc drive.

Over on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, gamers are noticeably relieved at the news.

“Ok, that's good for once. One more gen at least,” commented user NeonG95.

“Guess I’ll get a PS6. I’m a simple guy… disc drive buy. No disk drive bye,” replied user Corgiiiix3.

I can only hope that this is a sign that Sony is committed to physical media moving forward, because Nintendo’s obsession with “game-key cards” (that don’t actually contain the data for the game) for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a bad sign for the industry’s future.

Microsoft better be taking notes, too, or else they’ll likely lose even more consumers in the battle for the next generation’s supremacy.