According to Circana (formerly NPD), as of October of 2024, 82% of PS5s were the disc version.

Do you have a source for that? Because I know for a long time the disc version outsold the digital by a pretty wide margin. And the pro doesn't count because it doesn't offer a disc option.

It's kinda not only customers fault. Sony charges much for the bd version plus 9/10 of the games require huge downloads and installs even if they are physical. Most people just don't see the point anymore.

To add to what you've said, Microsoft has effectively abandoned physical media as well, with Nintendo being the last hold out whom is constantly lambasted for their prices. Computer gaming had completely abandoned physical media for over a decade.

I bought the one with the disc drive and buy physical games as much as possible. I honestly always felt ripped off paying full price for a console game without getting the physical media. The problem is that nowadays, shipping games before they're fully cooked and patching later has become the norm. Buying discs of brand-new games doesn't actually let you keep the full experience anymore. You can resell them though.

Consumers are dumb

Buy the disc system, then Its only a few physical games, and then youd have saved the money a disc drive would cost

Ive gotten all physical games i have, for 70% of the price sony sells them for on their digital store

Incl brand new releases

And i own it forever