Nintendo Confirms No Plans to Abandon Physical Games

Nintendo confirmed it has no plans to abandon physical media for its video game releases, according to statements made by Bill van Zyll, Vice President and General Manager for Nintendo in Latin America, in an interview reported by Coelho. As the gaming industry experiences a shift from physical to digital titles—accelerating over the last 20 years and marked by PlayStation soon abandoning physical games entirely—concerns have grown regarding the future of physical media.

Industry Shifts and Physical Media Stance

Amid industry discussions about the future of physical formats and companies like Sony confirming they will completely abandon physical titles by January 2028, van Zyll addressed the topic during a chat with Coelho. He stated plainly that Nintendo does not have any plans to ditch physical releases and acknowledged that fans are very much interested in that format.

“Historically, we’ve been very agnostic, right? 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.”

Formats on Nintendo Switch 2

On the Nintendo Switch 2, physical releases come in two forms: full cartridges and game-key cards. While game-key cards have not been a hit with passionate collectors, U.S. sales for game-key cards have increased by 631 percent, indicating they are not being ignored. Games distributed directly by Nintendo have largely remained proper physical titles, though Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition will utilize a game-key card format.