Nintendo just put a number on how much boxed games still matter to it: 38.5% of software sales.
That figure lands in the middle of an industry quietly walking away from plastic. Sony raised eyebrows recently by announcing that no new PlayStation 5 games will ship on disc from January 2028 onward. The change is still 18 months out, but new PS5 consoles and disc drive accessories are already shipping with warning labels telling buyers what’s coming. It’s believed the news also points to PlayStation 6 being an all-digital console.
Xbox isn’t dumping discs outright, but the company is reportedly building a system that transfers game licenses from physical discs to digital ownership.
The number is shrinking, just not fast
In its latest financial results, Nintendo said its ratio of physical to digital game sales shrank by 2.2 points. So 61.5% of its games now sell as digital downloads, and 38.5% still sell in a box.
Smaller, sure. Still a big chunk of the business.
Compare that to Capcom, which said only yesterday that “approximately 90%” of its game sales are now digital. The gap makes sense once you think about who’s buying. Nintendo’s audience skews younger and more casual than most publishers’.
Those players are more likely to buy physical games, or have them bought for them, so they can share them around the family or resell them later for trade-in value. And Nintendo has plenty of die-hards who want the box on the shelf as part of a collection.
Cartridges, key cards and a code in a box
With Switch 2 only launched last year, Nintendo changing physical game availability anytime soon seems unlikely, even as manufacturing and shipping ramp up. What it’s doing instead is a hybrid: regular cartridges, cheaper Game-Key Cards, and digital codes packed in a box, which is reportedly how the Switch 2 port of Diablo 4 will arrive.
The company probably won’t make any rash decisions. But it has started nudging players toward digital on new Switch 2 games by pricing them around $10 cheaper than the boxed versions. Watch that gap over the coming generation.
What’s actually coming to Switch 2
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave arrives September 17. Switch Sports Resort follows October 22. The new Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is due before the end of this year.
Already announced for 2027: Xenoblade Genesis, plus Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves. Every one of those will still have a box on a shelf somewhere, which is more than PlayStation owners will be able to say by 2028.
