Sony is cutting 250 jobs at its recordable media manufacturing plant in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

The layoffs will affect the production of CD-R, DVD-R, and BD-R, with plans to eventually stop producing optical disc storage media products, including Blu-ray discs.

This decision follows a broader trend towards a digital future in the tech and gaming industries, driven by the rise of streaming services.

The decline in demand for physical media has prompted this shift, which may impact physical media releases of films and TV shows.

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has advocated for the importance of Blu-ray or DVD releases for preservation purposes.

Despite the trend, Sony and Microsoft continue to include optical disc drive support in their consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Fans of physical media argue for its superior audio-visual quality compared to streaming.

Alternative backup media options now include external HDDs, SSDs, memory cards, thumb drives, NAS solutions, and cloud storage providers.

This news highlights the ongoing battle between physical and digital media formats in the entertainment industry.