Sony’s flagship gaming console PlayStation 5 is rumored to be launched soon. This time the console could come with a surprise feature as well. The next-gen PS5 is reportedly launching with a disc drive and blockchain powered DRM technology.

Sony is, reportedly, coming up with an all-new PS5 that could come loaded with a surprise feature. During an episode of his YouTube series called Patcher Report, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter revealed that the surprise feature in the new PS5 could be a disc drive.

This has shocked people because gaming is now being facilitated online using cloud platforms. For the next generation of PlayStation, which should come with advanced features, it would not make much sense to add a disc drive — which, by the way, reminds us of a bygone era.

Could Physical Games Survive?

Gamingbolt suggested that the loss of disc drives could possibly hurt the company’s relationship with retailers and hardware manufacturers. However, if physical games survive, it could be good news for people who engage in game trade-ins. It is highly likely that the company is looking forward to taking these trade-ins digital.

A new patent by the company for Digital Rights Management (DRM) could make this happen. The current methods employed by a few companies may be completely unreliable. However, the new blockchain-based DRM solution could help in tying purchases to users forever. If they engage in any trade-ins or give away the games to someone else, they could digitally transfer the rights to the game as well, Finder reported.

The Wait for PS5 and the End to PS4

More details about the PS5 will be released later this month — perhaps, during the E3 gaming expo. The release date of the console has not been confirmed, but experts believe that it could launch in 2020.

John Kodera, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO said earlier:

“PS4 is entering final phase of its life cycle, which would have negative impact to the unit, but recurring revenue via membership services, etc. should cushion some of that.”

Takashi Mochizuki tweeted a major hint by the CEO in one of his tweets. It read:

“SIE head Kodera told analysts and investors that the period until March 2021 would be when PlayStation to “crouch down once” to grow further in the future.”

Sony is eyeing to kill the old PS4 and bring forth a newer, stronger and future-ready console with blockchain-powered DRM. Hopefully, it will get enough time to develop the upcoming PS5.

Fighting Piracy With DRM

Sony’s main intent with the new DRM solution is to fight piracy. Even though digital gaming has curbed the problem to a huge extent, it cannot be denied that the company still loses some revenue because of pirated games.

Taking its new console online, complete with a physical games package and digital signatures registered securely in a blockchain framework, could not only help them save revenues but also become the undisputed market leaders.

Another question that arises out of this equation is about cryptocurrencies. If the platform wants to use blockchains, will it do so without using any tokens or will it use the immutable distributed ledger to simply record transactions? The answer to this question is still hidden, and we may have to wait for official announcements.

Great post. I think this is a great idea. Being able to transfer the game to a new owner would be something never done before. This will be a pirates worst nightmare though as they say, where there is a will there is a way.