How PlayStation and Xbox disc games are made

Insiders explain a process that is facing extinction, at least for new games on Sony consoles

No, disc-based games do not grow on trees. If only! Photo: Game File

Since Sony’s announcement last month that it will cease producing discs for new PlayStation games in 2028, there’s been a lot of talk about the value and potential disappearance of video game discs.

As I reported on that news, I realized I didn’t know how video games wind up on discs in the first place. How does the process work? What does it cost?

I thought Game File readers might also like to know.

So, I started asking sources in the industry, and they started explaining the steps involved from making a video game to getting it on a disc: What Sony and Microsoft require game publishers to do and some of the quirks about how their approaches differ.

I spoke to people involved with game companies big and small, though no one was authorized to talk on the record. Once I had a list of how the sources said it all worked, I ran it by Sony to fact-check. They declined to weigh in. I wasn’t able to get anything from Microsoft either.

Nonetheless, this is how it works, according to people familiar with the process….