A new data shows that PlayStation blackout made zero difference

Some of you might be hoping that the PlayStation Blackout actually shook things up, brace yourself for some bad news lads: it did nothing.

Last month, players were asked to boycott their consoles and PlayStation services from August 23 to 30, protesting Sony’s decision to stop making discs. Analyst Mat Piscatella, who tracks weekly active users across platforms, was asked directly on BlueSky whether the blackout showed up anywhere in the numbers. His answer was blunt: no significant change in player count or engagement at all.

PlayStation Blackout timing was terrible

The protest ran into two problems from the start. A week is a short window to prove a point, and plenty of critics said so before it even began. Worse, it overlapped with Gamescom 2026, when a chunk of the exact audience it needed was busy at a convention rather than boycotting their consoles at home.

DoesItPlay, the group behind the movement, still called it a win once it wrapped, saying the “minimum requirement” had been hit and promising more action down the line. The actual player charts tell a different story though. Fortnite, NBA 2K27, and Roblox stayed on top for PlayStation, exactly the kind of business-as-usual result a successful boycott is supposed to prevent.

Good intentions, wrong week. That’s corporate gaming for ya.

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