Nintendo says it has no plans to abandon physical games

Nintendo is bucking the industry trend toward digital-only. In a new interview, a company executive confirmed that physical games are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

During a conversation with YouTuber Coelho no Japão reported by Eurogamer, Nintendo's VP for Latin America, Bill van Zyll, said the company remains "very agnostic" about formats. He stated they go off consumer preference and currently have "no plans to ditch physical."

Van Zyll pointed to the Switch 2, which launched just over a year ago, as a platform that was built with both digital and physical capabilities from the start, per Kotaku. "We know how much the fans like it," he added, according to the report.

This stance is a direct contrast to Sony, which announced its intention to move PlayStation to a discless model starting in 2028. That decision has sparked significant backlash from fans, creating a renewed interest in physical media.

Nintendo's position is also backed by its business. As Kotaku notes, the company's digital sales ratio is lower than its competitors, making it more reliant on physical sales. This makes any shift away from the format less likely.