All articles tagged with #sony
A leaked image shows the Xperia 10 VIII maintaining the Xperia 10 VII’s flat back, horizontal camera bar, and side‑mounted fingerprint sensor, with Geekbench suggesting Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and 8GB RAM; Sony’s August 25 reveal is near, but concrete upgrades beyond design remain unclear.
A fresh image leak hints that Sony’s mid‑range Xperia 10 VIII sticks to its familiar dual‑camera horizontal bar, NFC, and a 3.5mm jack, with clues of a frosted‑glass back. Geekbench suggests Android 16, a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 CPU, and 8GB of RAM, continuing the prior model’s internal specs. Sony is set to unveil the device on August 25, but a U.S. release is unlikely, with Europe likely getting the launch.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day dominates the global box office with $109M worldwide in its fourth weekend, lifting its running total to about $2.22B and cementing its place as the sixth-highest grossing film ever; Insidious: Out of the Further opens with roughly $60M globally, pushing the franchise total to about $800M; Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey adds about $87.5M this weekend, bringing its global total to around $1.44B and marking Nolan’s highest-grossing run in several markets.
PlayStation users received an email reiterating that digital games are licensed, not owned, as fans launch the #PSBlackout boycott (Aug 23–30) in protest of Sony ending production of physical discs in 2028, with Sony explaining the shift toward digital content.
A social-media–driven PS Blackout calls for players to power down or log off from August 23–30 to protest Sony’s move toward a fully digital future. Critics say the window is arbitrary and unlikely to move the needle, especially with Gamescom week and major launches underway; participation remains uncertain as many players may continue to play or buy games despite the call.
Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki says the memory shortage arrived at a convenient time after PS5 price hikes, signaling a shift toward monetizing the existing PlayStation user base through PS Plus rather than aggressive hardware sales, as the ecosystem reaches about 125 million monthly users and hardware costs rise.
Sony has announced a new Xperia device likely the Xperia 10 VIII, with a YouTube launch event on Aug 25, 2026 at 11:00 JST (Aug 24 in the US at 10:00 PM ET). FCC listings hint at a mid-range spec including a 3.5mm jack, four LTE bands, Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi 6, while 5G was not confirmed. A Geekbench sighting points to a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 with 8GB RAM, suggesting hardware similar to recent models. US availability seems unlikely; the phone is expected to launch in Japan, with a broader rollout unclear.
A new mid-range Sony Xperia 10 VIII has surfaced in a Geekbench listing, suggesting the device may use the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset (same as the Xperia 10 VII) and 8 GB of RAM across variants like XQ-GH54, while Sony has announced a global launch for August 25 at 02:00 UTC with pricing and full specs still undisclosed.
Sony will stop producing physical PlayStation game discs starting in 2028, sparking concerns about ownership, the used-games market, and access for those who rely on physical media, while the article also humorously notes the end of the Disc Butt meme and nostalgia for holding tangible games.
Guerrilla Games reportedly scales back Horizon Hunters Gathering from a live-service title to a traditional co-op game with a story mode after negative closed-test feedback, redeploying staff as the Horizon sequel remains years away. A separate Horizon multiplayer project for PC and mobile is handled by NCSoft, underscoring Sony’s ongoing, costly push into live-service games amid mixed results.
Crunchyroll’s store is now paywalled for Mega/Ultimate subscribers and has dramatically reduced its physical lineup, removing most manga, light novels, manhwa, and danmei titles along with the vast majority of Blu-ray/DVD sets. What remains mostly consists of merchandise, with only a handful of Blu-rays from Sony-owned labels (Funimation), Crunchyroll, and Aniplex still listed. Fans blame Sony’s wider push away from disc-based media and acquisitions like The Right Stuf International for the shift, viewing it as part of a broader move toward subscriptions over physical purchases. It’s unclear whether this is temporary or permanent, and Crunchyroll hasn’t publicly explained the strategy beyond noting the paywalled shift. The online backlash has been swift and vocal.
Sony-backed Crunchyroll’s store update reportedly removes all physical books and drastically trims the Blu-ray lineup, prompting fan backlash and underscoring Sony’s shift toward digital distribution and the decline of disc-based media.
Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida responds to Sony's plan to end physical game discs in 2028, saying it's not a major issue for most players since patches, DLC, and updates require downloads anyway; collectors may miss physical media and concerns about pricing, the secondhand market, and preservation arise, while Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot sees mixed but not disruptive effects; the move aligns with PS6 timing and ongoing component shortages.
Sony’s State of Play for Phantom Blade Zero was met with a flood of “no disc no buy” comments as pre-orders for the game are digital-only. Sony shows no sign of a physical release and pushes a digital-only future for the PS6, while data from several countries shows physical discs remain popular there (Germany, France, Japan, UK), highlighting an uneven global shift and potential impacts on resale rights and pricing.
Gillian Anderson says Sony withdrew the U.S. distribution deal for The Salt Path after revelations about fabrications in the Winns’ memoir, which had been billed as a true story. The Winns’ claims were called into question by Observer coverage, and the couple’s identities were reportedly pseudonymous; Anderson described the development as a betrayal. The film is slated for a North American release via Rialto Distribution International, and Sony declined to comment as of press time.