Nintendo May Be the Last Company Standing With Physical Games

Analysts believe Nintendo is unlikely to follow Sony's digital-only strategy anytime soon, but the future of physical game ownership remains increasingly uncertain.

Sony revealed that it will be removing physical PlayStation game discs beginning in 2028, and it’s one of the hottest points of debate in the gaming industry about the future of physical video games. The decision has raised alarm among collectors and longtime players alike, but the conversation soon turned to Nintendo and whether it plans to continue supporting traditional game cartridges during the Switch 2 era.

Nintendo has adopted a decidedly different strategy from Sony’s all-digital future with its new generation of systems. The firm has employed the contentious Game Key Card method for some titles, but for its own first-party releases, it has mainly stuck to traditional cartridges that hold the game data rather than just a download key.

This distinction is becoming increasingly crucial for fans who want to truly own what they purchase. 

Physical cartridges have traditionally been seen as a means of preserving games regardless of the status of online services. In contrast, download-based solutions rely heavily on digital shops remaining operational in the years to come. However, the introduction of Game Key Cards has sparked discussion amongst enthusiasts.

These cards can still be bought, sold, and traded just like traditional physical games, maintaining the secondary market many gamers appreciate. But as the cards only allow for a digital download from Nintendo’s eShop and not the whole game on the cartridge itself, questions remain regarding the long-term utility of the cards once online services are finally removed.

Many collectors say this generates doubt about long-term preservation. Unlike the older cartridge-based systems like the Super Nintendo, where you can still pop in decades-old games and play them right away, Game Key Cards rely on Nintendo’s continued support of digital downloads well into the future. If those servers ever go away, you could be stuck with nothing but a handful of games you bought.

Nintendo introduced Game Key Cards; the system has been used mostly for specific titles. And, aside from games from outside partners (including some handled by The Pokémon Company), almost every major first-party Nintendo game has continued to launch on regular physical cartridges. This pledge has gone some way toward reassuring collectors that Nintendo wouldn’t soon ditch traditional, tangible media. 

Instead, the corporation seems to be hedging its bets on physical and digital distribution while slowly dabbling in other media. One difficulty Nintendo still has is production expense. The Switch 2 cartridges are also far more expensive to make than the first Switch’s cartridges, especially the larger-capacity 64GB ones that came with the new hardware.

Publishers have reported that these premium cartridges cost far more than prior formats, driving up production costs across the board. But more recently, evidence has surfaced that Nintendo has secretly expanded its cartridge storage options. It appears that smaller releases priced between $20 and $40 are being shipped on cartridges with lower capacities.

This has led many to speculate that Nintendo has released 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB versions that are better suited to lower-budget titles and also reduce manufacturing costs. 

Reports say that high-capacity Switch 2 cartridges could cost publishers $13-$16 per unit, making physical releases far more expensive than digital releases. That distinction has also played into Nintendo’s approach to retail pricing. Some Switch 2 titles have been seen with price disparities between digital and physical versions, suggesting a potential digital-only release.

Digital copies purchased from the Nintendo eShop may be discounted, but physical editions are often more expensive because they include a physical cartridge. Many of the collectors still think it’s worth that price. A tangible copy means you can lend, resell, or preserve a game without having to rely totally on a digital retailer. One of the main benefits Nintendo still has over a fully digital economy is its robust used-game market.

While the higher price may entice more gamers to buy games digitally, Nintendo has not yet eliminated physical options. Instead, it seems they are offering consumers an option while acknowledging the higher manufacturing costs of cartridge production. Industry watchers think this balancing act may continue for the remainder of the Switch 2 generation, even if competitors take a radically different course.

Gaming journal VGC recently spoke with video game industry expert and Circana Executive Director Matt Piscatella about Sony's decision to stop producing physical PlayStation games beginning in January 2028. The industry’s long-term transition to digital distribution has been unavoidable, Piscatella says, but Nintendo is unlikely to reverse direction just because Sony has.

Sales of hardcopy video games have been steadily declining for well over a decade, as consumer purchasing trends have increasingly favored digital downloads, Piscatella remarked. But the announcement of the Switch 2 gave physical software sales a brief boost in the US, suggesting that the desire for boxed games is stronger in Nintendo’s ecosystem than in any other corner of the console space.

“Sony's announcement is more symbolic than a major change in the market,” the expert said. He believes the transformation has been underway for years, with declining retail sales gradually but steadily altering publishers' distribution methods. Physical collector’s editions and boxed products with download codes should still show up on store shelves, but standard game discs will be less and less of a sight.

A report also claimed that if Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox hardware goes the digital-only route, as rumored, Nintendo may be the only major console manufacturer left providing physical games for the duration of the current console generation.

That prospect has led to speculation that Nintendo could be the last man standing in tangible media, even if the firm ultimately goes all-digital. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has one of the healthiest physical software markets in gaming. Industry data show Nintendo's software sales remain considerably closer to a 50/50 split between physical and digital, while PlayStation and Xbox have become heavily digital platforms in recent years.

Many analysts attribute this to Nintendo's audience, which consists of collectors, families, and longtime fans who still enjoy building physical libraries. Cartridge-based games are also quite portable, making them especially suitable for handheld gaming compared to optical discs used by competing systems.

Nintendo’s retail presence has also been surprisingly strong. Major retailers still allocate significant shelf space to Nintendo products, though Xbox's physical footprint has steadily diminished across many stores. This persistent visibility cements Nintendo as the industry’s strongest holdout for conventional physical game sales.

For now, analysts expect Nintendo to continue using cartridges throughout the Switch 2's lifecycle. Looking down the road, some even speculate that a future successor, whether it’s the Switch 3 or something else entirely, may continue to support backward compatibility with existing game cards, allowing physical collections one last generation before the industry moves to an all-digital future.