LINE Yahoo Refuses to Comment on PS5 Disc End Impact on Reuse Market
The operator of Japan's two largest peer-to-peer marketplaces declined to offer any data or strategy on how the end of PS5 disc production will affect its business, signaling that the reuse sector has no public plan for the coming shift to an all-digital console market.
Key Facts
- Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that new PlayStation titles released after January 2028 will not have disc versions.
- GameBusiness.jp surveyed LINE Yahoo, operator of Yahoo! Auctions and Yahoo! Flea Market, about the announcement's impact on the second-hand market.
- LINE Yahoo declined to comment on Sony's business policy, handling ratios, sales figures, procurement plans, strategic measures, or user purchasing behavior data.
- LINE Yahoo said the joy of re-encountering games users were once passionate about or coveted titles they could not obtain before is unique to reuse.
- LINE Yahoo stated it will continue to provide a safe trading environment as a platform connecting things, people, and memories.
Reporting from 3 sources: Game Spark, Inside, GameBusiness.jp.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that new PlayStation titles released after January 2028 will no longer have disc versions. GameBusiness.jp surveyed LINE Yahoo, which operates Yahoo! Auctions and Yahoo! Flea Market, about the decision's effect on the second-hand market. LINE Yahoo declined to comment on Sony's business policy, on handling ratios or sales figures for PS5 packages, on procurement plans, and on any strategic measures in response to reduced package supply. The company also said it does not disclose analysis of user purchasing behavior shifts from physical to digital. When asked what value would be lost if the second-hand market shrinks, LINE Yahoo declined to comment on hypothetical market trends. In its only substantive statement, the company described reuse as a way to connect items no longer needed to the next person who needs them, and said the joy of re-encountering games users were once passionate about or coveted titles they could not obtain before is unique to reuse. LINE Yahoo stated it will continue to provide a safe trading environment as a platform that connects things, people, and memories.
GameBusiness.jp conducted the survey as an "emergency" inquiry, sending seven written questions to LINE Yahoo. The company answered each question in writing but declined to provide data or projections on every substantive point.
LINE Yahoo operates two of Japan's largest peer-to-peer marketplaces: Yahoo! Auctions, which predates the smartphone era, and Yahoo! Flea Market, a mobile-first app launched in 2015. The company said it does not engage in procurement based on manufacturers' product supply plans, framing its business model as purely user-to-user rather than retail.
The only specific language LINE Yahoo offered came in its final response, where it described reuse as a way to "connect items no longer needed to the next person who needs them, rather than discarding them." The company added that "the joy of re-encountering games you were once passionate about or coveted titles you couldn't obtain at the time is unique to reuse." It said it aims to contribute to a "circular society" by effectively using limited resources.
GameBusiness.jp also interviewed two other major second-hand distributors about the same Sony announcement. Geo Holdings said package software remains important but it has no intention of withdrawing from the game business. Mercari emphasized "experiences and choices born from the circulation of items." Both articles are linked from the same GameBusiness.jp feature.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.