Sony just drew a line in the sand. Physical disc games for PlayStation consoles end in January 2028, with all new releases going digital-only from that point forward. It's a seismic shift for the industry, and the obvious question follows immediately: does this drag Nintendo along with it?
Short answer: probably not.
Mat Piscatella, senior director and video game industry advisor at market research firm Circana, weighed in on the news, and his read on Nintendo's position is pretty clear. "My gut says Nintendo does what Nintendo wants to do, and I don't see them changing anything in their plans based on what Sony or Microsoft do on anything, really," he said. “Nintendo is going to be Nintendo, for better and/or worse.”
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What this generation's physical future actually looks like
Here's the thing: the writing has been on the wall for physical media for a long time. Piscatella pointed out that sales of new physical video games have fallen every year since the late 2000s. The US physical market has seen a slight uptick recently, but he's direct about the reason: Nintendo Switch 2. That bump won't last indefinitely.
With Sony committing to digital-only from 2028, and Microsoft's Project Helix expected to follow a similar path, Switch 2 is shaping up to be the last console this generation to ship games in a physical format. That's a position Nintendo didn't necessarily plan for, but it's one that fits their history of doing things their own way regardless of what the competition is doing.
Retail has already been leaning harder into Nintendo's physical presence over the past few years. Switch 2 holds a strong share of physical software and hardware sales at retail right now, and stores aren't going to abandon that shelf space while it's still moving product. Piscatella noted that physical boxes won't disappear entirely even after Sony's 2028 cutoff. Expect more codes in box, collector's editions with physical extras, and merchandise bundles to fill that retail floor space.
The psychological shift is bigger than the market shift
What most players miss in this conversation is that the actual market shift already happened years ago. Digital overtook physical as the dominant way people buy games well before any official announcement. What Sony's decision does is make it official, permanent, and impossible to ignore.
Piscatella framed it plainly: "All of this will result in more of a psychological shift than a true market shift." The numbers have been trending this way for over a decade. The announcement just puts a date on the end of an era.
That said, a lot of players are going to be unhappy about it, and justifiably so. Physical media ownership, game preservation, and the ability to resell or lend games are real concerns that don't have clean digital equivalents. The Video Game History Foundation has already called on the ESA to find legal preservation methods for digital-only games, which tells you how serious the long-term archival problem is.
Nintendo as the last physical holdout
For players who care about owning their games in a tangible format, Nintendo's position becomes more significant by the day. Switch 2 cartridges aren't just a legacy format at this point. They're the only option left if you want a major platform that still ships games you can hold, trade, and put on a shelf.
Piscatella was careful to note that 2026 has already produced enough surprises that nothing is completely certain. "We're kind of in dartboard territory," he acknowledged. Nintendo could theoretically shift its position at some point, but there's no indication that's coming, and the company's track record of ignoring industry trends it doesn't believe in is well established.
For now, Switch 2 owners can expect cartridges to remain part of the picture for this generation's full run. If you're tracking how platform holders are handling the physical-to-digital transition and what it means for the games you play, the gaming guides section has coverage across the major platforms worth bookmarking. The PS5 Pro's own shift toward enhanced digital experiences is also worth understanding, and our breakdown of the Infinity Nikki v2.5 PS5 Pro upgrade shows exactly how publishers are building for a digital-first future right now.
The January 2028 deadline for PlayStation's last disc is still 18 months away. A lot will change before then, and Nintendo's next major hardware decision after Switch 2 will be the real test of whether this stance holds long-term.
