Analysts believe Nintendo is accelerating its shift to digital sales channels

2025-11-08 23:49:45|Myriagame |source：minecraft skins

Circana analyst Matt Piscatella recently shared new insights into the changing landscape of physical and digital gaming sales in the United States.He noted that while Nintendo remains the last major publisher to focus on physical releases, the company's transition to digital sales is accelerating with the launch of the Switch 2.

In a recent conversation with YouTuber channel Spawn Wave, Piscatella discussed the split between physical and digital formats in the overall market, as well as speculation about whether the next generation of consoles may feature purely digital hardware.During the conversation, he said: "I agree with you, I don't think the next generation Xbox will be equipped with an optical drive." Regarding Sony's future strategy, he was uncertain: "Judging from the current attachment rate of external optical drives for the PlayStation Digital Edition console, I am half-and-half on whether Sony will launch a similar configuration again. It is still uncertain. In many regions around the world, the importance of physical games is far more important than in the United States... But we are moving in the direction of (digital dominance)."

Piscatella added that while a fully digital future may still be some time away, even Nintendo is showing signs of transitioning in that direction."Nintendo is the last major publisher to focus on physical distribution, and even then, they are beginning to shift. At least in the United States, the situation may be different in other parts of the world. Nintendo is still focusing on physical distribution and working with retailers, while other console manufacturers have largely or almost completely moved (in the digital direction)."

When talking about the impact of Switch 2, he found that Nintendo users' acceptance of digital versions of games is growing faster than before."It is true that there are some loyal players who prefer physical games, but as you said, this ratio (physical to digital) continues to change. And judging from the latest Switch models, even on Nintendo platforms, the speed of this change has obviously accelerated."

Nintendo Switch 2 will be launched on June 5, 2025. It continues the "hybrid" positioning of the previous generation console and has also undergone major upgrades in hardware, including a 7.9-inch 1080p LCD screen, a customized NVIDIA Tegra processor, 12GB of memory, and 4K output function in dock mode.The console sells for $449.99 in the United States, supports backward compatibility with most first-generation Switch games, and provides two ways to obtain games, physical cartridges and digital eShop.

Although the comparison of digital and physical sales of Switch 2 in the initial launch period has not yet been released, analysts pointed out that the overall trend of the entire industry is still that digital revenue continues to grow.For Nintendo, which has long valued retail partnerships and collectible physical copies of its games, the shift marks a slow but significant change in its business model.

As the digital ecosystem continues to expand and high-speed Internet connections become more common, the next few years may determine how long physical media can maintain its important role in the console market.As Piscatella said, at least for now, even Nintendo users who have historically preferred physical games are beginning to gradually embrace the digital future — one step at a time.

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