Steam

Epic Games Launcher V2 preview, which Epic built with AI assistance, starts in about 5.47 seconds against Steam's 5.23 after Valve's quick patch, though Epic still restores from the tray faster (0.36s vs 0.42s).

The stopwatch did not survive HN. A commenter who timed both launchers got 10-15 seconds for a cold Steam boot, and others replied that the faster client had already been sitting in Steam's beta channel.

Sony ends PlayStation disc production by January 2028, and popcar argues the real loss isn't the disc but the right to sell, lend, or keep a game a company can delist. PC stays ownable through GOG and DRM-free copies; consoles are heading for Netflix-style rental.

Then a developer who's run a studio for two decades agrees the honest fix is linguistic — stop letting stores say "buy" — while another pulls Sony's own filing: physical was 3% of 2025 revenue.

The cutoff covers only new titles: discs released before January 2028 keep working, and Rockstar has already said GTA 6 ships as a download code in a box, not a disc.

One reader priced Dark Souls 3 at $11 used on eBay against $60 on the PlayStation Store; another asked why, with no game-swapping left, you wouldn't just buy on Steam.

Sony's notice blames “content licensing agreements” for pulling Terminator 2, Total Recall and 549 other films from purchased libraries. It's not the first time — the company tried the same move years ago.

The recurring demand in the thread is legal, not technical: stop letting a checkout button say “purchase” when what you get is a revocable license with no end date disclosed.