The PS Blackout movement, launched by the gaming legacy community (including DoesItPlay) at the end of August, did not result in significant changes in U.S. player participation rates.
The news was announced by Matt Piscatella, executive director of analytics firm Circana, who commented on Player Engagement Tracker data for the week ending September 5, 2026. Experts said they found no major deviations when tracking the top 10 and top 20 games by weekly active users.
Let’s remember that the reason for the protest was Sony’s decision to reduce production of physical discs as part of a gradual transition to digital distribution. The action calls on PlayStation owners not to log on to the Internet, publish games and make any purchases to protest the deterioration of video game storage conditions and the collapse of the physical media market. However, the strict measures on the part of players have not affected the overall usage statistics of the platform.
