Nintendo Says It Has No Plans to Ditch Physical Games as Sony Goes Digital Only

Nintendo Stands by Physical Games

Nintendo has no plans to abandon physical games, according to Bill van Zyll, the company's Vice President and General Manager for Latin America. Speaking in an interview with the Brazilian YouTube channel Coelho no Japão, van Zyll said the company follows consumer preference and knows how much fans value cartridges.

"Historically, we've been very agnostic," van Zyll stated. "We go off what the consumer prefers, and take that into account very heavily. We also have a platform that was just launched. We're barely just over a year into NS2. It's got both digital and physical, that capability. There's no plans to ditch physical. We know how much the fans like it as well, so our position has been to be agnostic."

The comments position Nintendo in contrast to Sony, which remains committed to phasing out physical media in favor of a digital-only future.

Game-Key Cards Fill the Gap

Even so, Nintendo's physical releases are not immune to the shift toward digital distribution. With the Nintendo Switch 2, the company introduced game-key cards, physical cards that contain a license to download the full game data rather than the game itself.

The move reflects storage limits. Modern AAA releases have exceeded the capacity of traditional cartridges and discs. On the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, cartridges max out at 32GB and 64GB respectively, which is not much by modern standards. Titles such as Black Myth: Wukong and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI use the code-in-a-box model.

Compared with fully digital releases, game-key cards bind the license to the card, so owners can still trade or sell them like normal cartridges.

Pricing and the Road Ahead

Physical copies can also cost more than digital ones. Effective as of May 2026, physical versions of first-party Nintendo titles sell for $10 more than their digital counterparts, which Nintendo attributes to manufacturing, packaging, and distribution costs for cartridges. The company frames the adjustment differently, saying it lowered digital game prices by $10 to pass savings on to consumers.

Nintendo has announced plans for the Switch 2 to mirror its predecessor's lifespan of about six to seven years. With the console launching just last year, physical media supporters can look forward to roughly another six years of releases, even as the industry's future remains uncertain following Sony's decision to phase out game discs.

Sources: Tom'S Hardware · Cybernews