PlayStation Blackout Boycott Had No Significant Impact in Player Numbers, Data Shows

The PlayStation Blackout appears to have made no measurable dent in US player activity. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella says the market research company’s tracking found “no significant change at all” in player count or engagement that could be attributed to the protest.

The week-long campaign ran from 23 August to 30 August and encouraged players to stop using their PS5 consoles and PlayStation services. The protest was organised in response to Sony’s planned move away from physical game discs, with supporters hoping coordinated inactivity would give PlayStation a visible reason to reconsider.

Circana Saw No Significant Change in Player Activity

Piscatella addressed the blackout on 14 September while sharing Circana’s latest Player Engagement Tracker data for the United States.

Asked whether Circana had noticed any change that could be attributed to the PlayStation Blackout, Piscatella replied: “No. There was no significant change at all in player count or engagement in our tracking.”

That is a fairly direct result for the gameplay side of the protest. Players were specifically being encouraged to stay off their consoles, so a large enough turnout would reasonably be expected to show up somewhere in engagement data. Circana says its US tracking did not detect such a shift.

There is an important limit to that conclusion, however. Piscatella was talking specifically about player count and engagement, and Circana’s figures here cover the US. His comment does not establish whether digital purchases or other PlayStation spending changed during the blackout.

What the PlayStation Blackout Asked Players to Do

The original campaign called for PlayStation users to turn off their consoles or log out between 7pm local time on 23 August and 7pm on 30 August. Participants were also encouraged to avoid buying games digitally during that period.

The push followed Sony’s decision to move future PlayStation releases away from physical discs, which prompted criticism from game preservation supporters and players who want physical ownership to remain an option.

After the week ended, organisers behind the campaign said its minimum participation requirement had been reached and suggested there could be further opportunities for players to take action. Some supporters also pushed for the blackout to continue beyond its original one-week window.

What Circana’s Finding Actually Tells Us

Circana’s answer makes it difficult to argue that the initial blackout produced a noticeable drop in PlayStation usage across the US. Even with the campaign attracting attention on social media, that support did not translate into a significant change in the player activity Circana tracks.

It does not settle every question around the protest. Player engagement is only one measure, and Piscatella did not provide figures for PlayStation Store spending or assess whether the campaign had any effect on Sony’s longer-term decisions.

For the part of the blackout that depended on getting a noticeable number of people to stop playing, though, Circana’s US data shows no significant change.