Overview
- Bill van Zyll, Nintendo’s Latin America vice president, confirmed on Sunday that the company has no plans to abandon physical releases and will continue offering physical options for the Switch 2.
- Switch 2 physical formats include standard cartridges that hold game data and game-key cards that only unlock a download but must remain inserted to play.
- Nintendo reported that physical versions accounted for about 45.5% of its game sales in 2026, a higher physical share than many rivals and a key reason the company says it will follow customer preference.
- The game-key card format raises preservation and access concerns because the card does not store the full game and players rely on Nintendo’s digital store and servers to download and reinstall titles.
- Sony plans to stop producing PlayStation discs for new games from January 2028, which has shifted industry debate and could push publishers to test more disc-less or code-in-box releases while Nintendo maintains a consumer-led, mixed-format approach.