Dutch price tracker Tweakers recently compared the price histories of physical and digital versions of several PlayStation games. Unsurprisingly, retail copies are often dozens of euros cheaper, even without counting the used market.
The website compared its pricing records starting in 2022 with Dutch PlayStation Store prices from psprices.com. New copies of many titles were over 30 euros cheaper at retailers, with gaps sometimes reaching 50 euros.
Although the PlayStation Store periodically offers discounts that closely resemble retail pricing, they are far too infrequent to match the permanent price drops from brick-and-mortar stores. As a result, physical copies of critically acclaimed titles such as Resident Evil, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are usually at least 70% cheaper than digital.
The discrepancy can exceed 90% for games such as Elden Ring, Horizon: Forbidden West, Black Myth: Wukong, and Death Stranding 2. The effect is greater with Sony's in-house titles, which experience fewer price drops and discounts.
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