Book Announcement About PlayStation Raises Questions About Sony's Stance on Physical Media
Pre-orders are now open: the standard edition costs $125, the Deluxe edition $325, and both versions are expected to ship in November.
The book is a joint project between PlayStation and Read-Only Memory, a British publisher specializing in premium books about games and fictional worlds. The Deluxe Edition will be printed in a limited run of 1,994 copies.
The 400-page edition includes materials from Sony's archives: prototypes, sketches, and models related to the console's development. Among the project's contributors are PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi, designer of the first DualShock controller Teiyu Goto, and PS5 lead designer Yujin Morisawa. Published images show early versions of consoles and controllers with disc drives.
Users have criticized the release of a physical book amid Sony's decision to reduce disc production for consoles starting in 2028. Ken Kutaragi called this decision economically justified, while former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden stated that without the ability to resell, a buyer cannot consider a game truly theirs.
