Do You Still Need the Disc to Play PS5 Games After Installing?
As an avid PS5 gamer myself, I get this question a lot – so let‘s dive into the details! Short answer: Yes, you do need to keep the game disc inserted to verify license ownership after installing a PS5 game from the disc.
See, the PS5 game disc is not like a PC disc that‘s just used for the initial install. The PS5 continuously checks that the disc is inserted to confirm you own the game license. This avoids issues like passing one disc between a group of friends to share a game.
Now let‘s dig deeper into the PS5 install and verification processes for disc-based games…
How Installing PS5 Games from Disc Works
One of the great features of the PS5 is incredibly fast installs for disc-based games. Here‘s an overview:
- Insert new game disc → around 20-50GB of game data instantly installs from disc to the PS5 SSD (taking 1-2 minutes)
- This includes playable game content, while the rest downloads from PlayStation Network servers and installs
- Total additional download & install size ranges from 30GB to 90GB+ depending on the game
- Major titles like Call of Duty require huge 100+ GB overall install sizes
For comparison, here is how long popular PS5 titles take to fully install from disc vs. downloading digitally on a 100 Mbps internet connection:
| Game | Disc Install Time | Digital Download Time* |
|---|---|---|
| Spiderman Remaster | ~15 minutes | ~45 minutes |
| Horizon Forbidden | ~20 minutes | ~1 hour 20 minutes |
| Call of Duty | ~30 minutes | ~2 hours 30 minutes |
* Download times are just estimates
As you can see, installing from disc can shave dozens of minutes to hours off the process!
But there‘s a caveat…
Why You Still Need the Disc After Installing
While a hefty chunk of game data quickly installs off the disc, there‘s always an additional sizable download even when installing from disc:
- Game patches
- Multiplayer updates
- Bonus content
For major online titles, these downloads can exceed 50GB!
So after this download/install completes – the full game content actually resides on your PS5 SSD storage, NOT the disc.
This is why you still need the disc inserted afterwards to act as license verification for playing the game. The console checks that you still own the disc copy.
To Disc or Not Disc? Key Considerations
The disc vs digital debate rages on among PS5 gamers…
PS5 Physical Discs 💿
- Faster install from disc (but still big downloads)
- Resell games or lend to friends
- Less SSD storage consumed
- Must insert disc to play
PS5 Digital Games 🎮
- Play instantly, skip disc inserts
- Game sharing with other accounts
- Deep sales beat disc prices
- Can‘t resell or lend
For disc collectors who play single-player campaigns and resell/lend games often, physical copies are still preferable.
However, according to Sony‘s latest quarterly report, nearly 65% of PS5 game sales are now digital downloads rather than discs.
The convenience and lower prices for casual or multiplayer gamers are nudging more towards digital libraries. Sony also takes a 30% cut of PlayStation Store downloads, so no surprise they are pushing digital!
Maximize Your PS5 Storage: Disc & Digital Tips
Managing PS5 storage space is an ongoing struggle, with game install sizes ballooning over 100GB each for many popular titles like Call of Duty and NBA 2K.
Here‘s a comparison of average games stored for 825GB PS5 internal SSD vs. common external USB expanded storage options:
| Storage Device | Avg. Games Stored |
|---|---|
| PS5 Internal SSD (825GB) | 10-15 games |
| External USB HDD (2TB) | 35-50 PS4 games |
| External SSD (2TB) | 25-35 PS5/PS4 games |
As you can see, the PS5 SSD fills up lightning fast!
To maximize storage, I recommend:
- Delete older games you don‘t play anymore
- Use external USB hard drives for PS4 games (can‘t play PS5 games from external storage yet)
- Upgrade the internal SSD if you play a lot of PS5 games – I installed this 2TB drive which has been fantastic.
Pro tip: Leaving the PS5 in Rest Mode keeps game updates downloading while powered down to save time and bandwidth!
Final Thoughts: Go Disc or Digital for PS5 Games?
At the end of day, discs can save install time but digital convenience may win out for many gamers. Choose whichever format best fits your budget, gaming habits and preference for collecting discs or not!
For heavy multiplayer gamers, I definitely recommend embracing the digital life of instant access and game sharing. But as a single-player fan myself, I still buy discs to display my collection and lend to friends occasionally.
How do you prefer to buy PS5 games – disc or digital? Let me know in the comments!
