David Jaffe, the creator of God of War, says the move away from physical games isn’t driven by greed but by the economics of modern game development. According to Jaffe: “Here’s the actual uncomfortable truth: Phasing out physical media is not some evil, greedy, illuminati anti-consumer plot. It is just the brutal unavoidable financial reality of an industry trying to survive…when games cost $300 M+.” He also argued that third-party publishers aren’t pushing back against Sony’s shift toward digital because it benefits them: “You can see why third-party publishers are not fighting Sony on this, they’re popping champagne.” Jaffe believes that with AAA game budgets now regularly exceeding $300 million, publishers are looking for ways to cut costs and maximize revenue, and reducing reliance on physical media is one of those strategies.