#PSBlackout Boycott Drew No Noticeable Change, Analyst Says After Tracking
The analyst's own numbers, drawn from routine US tracking rather than a measurement of the boycott, became the basis for headlines claiming the campaign had zero impact on Sony, which is why the disagreement on Bluesky is about what the data can support, not about whether the campaign happened.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Industry analyst Mat Piscatella, of the research firm Circana, said the #PSBlackout boycott over the end of disc production for new PlayStation games produced no noticeable change in player count or engagement in the firm's tracking. The boycott ran from 7:00 PM on August 23 to 7:00 PM on August 30, 2026. Organizers later called for indefinite participation. Replies on the Bluesky thread pushed back on how the data was framed.
Piscatella answered a Bluesky user's question on September 14, writing that Circana's tracking showed no noticeable change in player count or engagement. A user replied the next day that Circana was not measuring the blackout at all, only routine US player counts, and that the numbers cannot cover sales or Sony's business as a whole. The user also said some outlets had turned the remark into claims of zero impact on Sony Interactive Entertainment. On Reddit, reactions stayed cool from the start, with comments arguing the window fell in a stretch with no notable new releases and that a real protest would mean canceling PS Plus permanently.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.