Sony is full speed ahead towards an all-digital future. Earlier this year the company announced that it would no longer produce physical game releases past 2027, sparking a huge backlash from the gaming community. It’s following that up by completing the final shipment of the last UHD Blu-ray player the company had available on the market.
Japanese blog Kunkoku, which is operated by an official Sony retailer, posted that the company has ended shipments of the UBP-X700/K UHD Blu-ray player as of October 22. The retailer says that “sales will end once stock runs out,” and Sony hasn’t provided any information as to whether it plans on releasing any new models in the future. It likely marks the end of Sony-branded dedicated 4K disc players.
This leaves Panasonic as the lone major Blu-ray player brand standing, and it offers several models at a variety of price points. That said, it will be interesting to see how long the company can stick it out considering that Sony, which played a huge role in the Blu-ray Disc Association, is now calling it quits.
The silver lining here is that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are serviceable 4K Blu-ray players, so physical media enthusiasts won't be completely out of luck if Panasonic bows out. While the most hardcore will balk at the fact that the consoles don’t support Dolby Vision during disc playback, these boxes are still capable of delivering a solid movie experience with just plain HDR.
Of course, the PS5 and Xbox Series X are both significantly more expensive than the more budget minded UBP-X700/K, meaning that access to 4K disc playback will be less accessible to movie fans. However, you can still find several Sony and Panasonic models on Best Buy.
This move comes at a time when streaming services continue to go up in price, which has led to more interest in DVDs, Blu-ray, and UHD Blu-ray. Hopefully other companies are able to step in to fill the void and build up a vibrant space in the same way that happened with vinyl.
When Alan isn’t watching his favorite streamers on Twitch he’s writing about tech, gaming and cybersecurity.
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