Bloober Team sticks with physical games – for as long as possible

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Bloober Team sticks with physical games – for as long as possible.

Bloober Team remains committed to offering games you can keep on your shelf. As long as the studio can produce physical editions, it wants to continue offering them – CEO Piotr Babieno made that clear in an interview with GamesRadar+. The statement comes at a time when PlayStation has announced it will end disc production in 2028. For those who would rather see Bloober’s horror games on a shelf than in a digital library, this is a signal: there is no quitting for now.

Why Babieno is sticking with discs anyway

Babieno says what many developers only hint at: digital distribution is easier, cheaper and more profitable. Nevertheless, he sees game collecting as an emotional glue between players and studios that no digital library can replace. Tymon Smektala, CEO of Bloober subsidiary Broken Mirror Games and former director of the Dying Light series, shares this view. Both grew up with the idea that collecting games is part of hobby culture.

However, the statement is not a promise of unlimited disc releases. Whether Bloober can actually offer a physical edition for a given title depends, according to the studio, on whether production can be sustained for the retail market. The company itself acknowledges the commercial appeal of digital distribution.

Onyx: The Dark Grip as the trigger for the debate

What sparked the conversation was Onyx: The Dark Grip, an upcoming horror game from Bloober Team that Broken Mirror Games will publish. The title is planned as a third-party exclusive for Switch 2 and designed entirely for handheld mode. That puts the game squarely in the debate currently being held over Switch 2 games without physical editions.

What this means for you as a player

If you prefer your horror games on a shelf rather than in a cloud library, Bloober’s statement makes the studio a clear ally in the debate over digital versus physical games. Switch 2 collectors can therefore keep an indie horror contender on their radar, one that could appear in stores – if production goes ahead.

At the end of the day, Babieno and Smektala are concerned with more than technology, but with connection: according to them, collecting creates an emotional bond between players and studios that digital libraries cannot create in the same way.