US Physical Game Spending Continued To Decline Last Year, Now Sits At Half 2021's Numbers

Sad times when people want the convenience of getting that game NOW instead of going to a shop and getting the physical.
Also so many games aren't even made as physical that we have to hope for a boutique company to release it, or just a code in a box which is NOT a physical.
Then the servers shutdown and people are annoyed that they cant get the games they paid for. Just the way of the world now.

I will keep supporting physical games and will always buy physical games.
Shape the future with physical gaming culture!
#keepplayingphysicalgames 🤟

Physical is still holding up pretty well in Asia where I get most games.

Nintendo is Japanese and the world doesn't revolve around the USA.

This is terrible news.

"...digital-only releases and the rise of console-specific online stores — none of which existed in 2008"

LostWinds says 'Hi'. 😉

I‘ll do my part and stick to buying physical games. Just nicer to really own the games. I don’t mind the slight inconvenience of swapping carts at all. Usually I play one game at a time anyway.

And being able to get rid of a game in case you realize it’s not for you.

Oh and I’ve given my niece and nephew around 20 games that I was done with, they couldn’t have afforded buying them.

I'll be the first to admit I've bought fewer physical games for Switch than I did for Wii U.
Simply because there wasn't enough games coming out physical that I wanted. Not because I have any sort of preference for digital.

And that is certainly a trend I hope Switch 2 will change.

Feels like gaming is dying. I will be playing retro games exclusively, when physical gaming is no more.

To be honest, this is being pushed quite hard. My biggest pet peeve with digital gaming, besides DRM is the fact that it's not cheaper than physical. Which is idiotic at best and downright greedy at worst.

I'll always choose physical when it's an option, it's generally the same price but often much cheaper. Plus factor in that you can sell the game on when you're finished.

Lending and swapping games was such a great part of my gaming when growing up to, will be very sad if the only physical option becomes an overpriced Limited Run release

Sad times that will make the corporations happy. I guess the era of sharing games is just about over.
I will buy physical to the bitter end, though.

It doesn’t help that in-person retail sales are down across the board here in the US. Stores are closing left and right and nobody seems to care.

It makes sense unfortunately. My sons and their friends are digital-only, wanting to avoid having to switch between discs or cartridges and having the instant gratification of downloading the game the moment they decide they want it. I on the other hand, am so happy that it seems Nintendo is giving us at least one more generation of physical media. Cartridges forever!

The embrace of digital-only sales has only signaled to game developers that releasing unfinished games is fine with us, since it can be patched anyway, and that we're okay not actually owning a copy of a game, just renting it at full price with the ever-present possibility of the digital store closing so you can purchase a re-release in the next one.

Until the above problems are resolved, digital-only won't be fully feasible.

With game sizes getting bigger and the Switch 2 being cartridges based and the system being the next step up meaning bigger file sizes. I doubt that the game will even be on the cartridges if a physical release just be an activation cartridge to download the 100gb Mario Kart 9. Even the current Nintendo Switch a lot of the games aren't fully on the cart meaning you have to download part of the game meaning in 10/20 years time when you can no longer update it's just part of the game on a cartridge.

I will support physical media until the bitter end. Even if it's eventually just relegated to boutique items in this late stage capitalism hellscape we all live in, I will keep supporting whatever I can until my very last breath.

The decline is SOLELY due to lack of availability. The video game industry will have a full on crash if this problem continues. If the future of gaming is digital, then gaming has no future. Only the tangible will last!

I’m happy to see many commenters supporting physical copies. I watch some YouTubers that support it as well.

I don’t understand people who want a digital only future, makes no sense.

I will not be buying any physical games ever * again. A lot of waste plastic for basically the same 1s and 0s as a simple download. The amount of extra's has been declined as well. It's basically just a small box with a boring cover and one cartridge or disc.
And even 'collector's editions' have been bad to worse the last few years. No soundtracks, and only plastic / cardboard junk.

On Switch 2 I will be buying a 1 or 2 TB MicroSD and that will be my physical game storage for the next generation.

*) Except for very exciting limited editions and / or for retro consoles that don't have downloadable games.

The long time goal here is not just about killing physical games it's more the lead into streaming.
Is it any wonder when you will see a article before a game is released that it's in the hands of homebrewing community.

Aren't absolute numbers the most important metric? Nintendo sold more physical games for the Switch than any system before:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html

With that in mind I hope Nintendo never get greedy. You could even call it socially minded, allowing users (especially children) to borrow games. It doesn't equal a lost sale. The niece and nephew I mentioned earlier: Sure, I gave them a bunch of my games (Mario, Zelda, Paper Mario, Kirby.. all the greats). But now they are fans - for life, likely. And for their birthdays they're getting their own games. It's a win for Nintendo.

See it's just that I want my games now and so I've largely abandoned physical media. Seriously though, it does boil down to convenience for me. Constantly swapping out cards is a pain and I love having all my games right there ready to launch. I save a little bit of money with the game vouchers and using a province with lower taxes for location, too. Now, does this number include phone and PC games? Because they only continue to grow.

@larryisaman It is... Switch 2 might halt the decline a bit but I can't see either Microsoft's or Sony's next systems having disc drives. So, it will be Nintendo alone with physical within the next 3/4 years..

This generation I have cut down on physical purchases unfortunately. My biggest annoyance is major publishers cheapening out by using the lowest capacity switch cards and expecting you do download the rest. For instance, 2K/Rockstar only included limited data for their Bioshock and GTA collections, and the same deal with the Konami's MGS collection. As such when you insert your card in, you're basically getting a dataless icon. If that's the case forward, I might as well buy a digital copy of the games and save the hassle of swapping cards.

As for LRG and their ilk, they know they cornered a niche audience and are resorting to incredibly unscrupulous practices. As someone who lives in Australia I have to pay a premium to import them, and if I miss out the initial preorder window, I have to sometimes pay 10x the price in the aftermarket.

Physical is always cheaper so I stick with whats cheaper and also I can sell of you don’t like it

Inevitable decline I'm afraid. I don't like it, don't want to see physical go, it's a matter of time unfortunately.

With the amount and size of day 1 patches, we are almost digital dependant already. Not entirely the case for Nintendo but very true for others.

I can't afford to hold onto everything as I go gen to gen but as a physical collector when I have a clear out, at least I can trade things in and Nintendo's stuff generally holds a good pre-owned value.

Video game books are my new go to collectibles. Books are going nowhere at least.

Stay physical. They tend to be cheaper on the whole and the resell value it worth it. I traded 3 Wii U games in a couple of weeks back which took a massive chunk out of the cost of a PS5. Couldn’t have done that with digital….

Phil Spencer can pull physical media out of my cold, dead hands. And if im going dow. Im TAKING HIM WITH ME!

I’ll buy physical games as long as I can, but yea, the writing is on the wall at this point.

Last week, my family found out they couldn't play most of the digital games on our family Switch due to my Switch Lite being registered as the primary and the fact that I bought most of the games on there.

Cartridges from here on out.

@batmanbud2 You can play your games on the system that is set as primary with any user. Or on any secondary system with your own user. (as long as that user is online and the only one playing the game)

If you want to switch the primary system, check the eShop.

This is to stop people from using one copy of the game on 2 systems at the same time. Same goes honestly for physical games, you can only use the cartridge in one system at a time.

Carts are the preference, love getting a deal on something used. But to be honest I don't think I bought a switch game digital or physical all of 2024. Rough out there. 😥

@sanderev Actually, if you have a Nintendo Online family account, two separate users can play the same game at the same time. My son lives in a different state than me, and I buy digital so that I don't have to buy games twice. We regularly play the same game online at the same time. Not sure if that works for every game, but definitely the majority.

Market conditions need to be addressed:

Inflation may have driven this, though yes while game spending as a whole continue to improve, the physical copy of a game remains more static.

I think that the pandemic also shifted the mindset of companies that they were already inching towards. Digital games only benefit publishers, and in the pandemic we were conditioned to spending that way.

It’s The Shock Doctrine, and it may not have been an inevitably were it not for corporate benefit

I am mostly digital these days with a few physical. I like digital because I don't like clutter nor the potential impact with the environment. That said, when I buy a duff game or something that I won't play ever again....I do have some I wish I bought physical!

It would be sad to get rid of it entirely, but you can see why some companies would want it! That said, some cherish the store space and being in places is an advertisement in itself.

Digital gaming has been on the rise for literally decades at this point, the Switch is simply Nintendo's first proper foray to move their console into the 21st century.
If you've only stuck with their consoles I can see this coming as somewhat of a shock (online capabilities were there for the Wii etc, but let's be real it wasn't as prominent), but if you used a PC for games in the early 2000s you know this was coming for a -long- time, and honestly it's a boon (less waste, no waiting for orders or worrying about stock issues, game patches are trivial now etc.)

I'll keep buying physical games as long as I can. I hate the idea that digital games can just be taken away from you at any time.

Also, one thing a lot of people seem to be glossing over when it comes to the physical vs digital argument: take as an example the missing Shantae game coming up.

At the time publishers would've probably pushed for a cartridge size compromise, leading to a lesser game as the developer stated - physical media imposes hard & arbitrary size limits. ( see here: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/the-odds-seemed-just-astronomical-reviving-lost-media-with-shantae-advance )

If you want Baldur's Gate 3 on the Switch 2 for example, that is -not- happening on physical media that would work with the console. Either that, or it's an incomplete game where you need to patch it afterwards anyway to download the missing files.

Bad news… and this is money spent so I assume the units sold figured must be even bleaker for physical games. With numbers like this it’s only a matter of time before one of the big three tries a proper all digital console. That will be a big test. If it’s successful the all digital future will be here before we know it.

Personally I don’t see how the hobby really survives going all digital. Music is all digital (basically) and the music industry is in steep decline. Film is all digital (almost) and without reliable physical media sales entire genres of film have had to be abandoned by major studios. It’s not clear yet how bad things will get for film but they haven’t reached the bottom yet.

Of course there are confounding factors that mean many will deny going digital had anything to do with the decline of these industries. But my opinion is that physical media is very psychologically important for the way the art form is perceived by consumers. Without it seems disposable and therefore not worth investing in.

I guess most "gamers" don't want to actually own their product. Just wait until they actually realize this and the major uproar that will happen because some company decided to remove their Single Player game permanently.

@Vegeta937 Yes if the primary player is playing as secondary on a 2nd console and the other player is using a different account on the main console it could work. But some games block it or then block multiplayer.

@MSaturn That already happened with the PSP Go.

That news is so sad. There's been so much variety and number of games released on Switch, that I keep buying more (I have a problem). Currently I'm sitting at right under 500 physical Switch games. With these numbers I can understand why Sony would feel comfortable releasing a discless PS5.

Yeah, this conversation crops up every so often — While I wouldn't lose too much sleep over a digital-only gaming landscape, I will certainly champion for having games on disc/cartridge if given the option.

I haven't bought a physical cartridge game in years and I have no regrets about being full download only. (And I'm from the NES era, so I've had my share of boxes and cartridges and stuff.)

I very frequently buy physical. I love actually owning discs/carts, even if digital is technically more convenient. But I'm just absolutely fed up with the delistings and other bull 💩 limitations that come with digital. It's also mentally easier justifying dropping $90 on a new physical release than a digital release, for example.

I can only assume a lot of this has to do with the increased prevalence of PC gaming.

I used to buy boxed games before I had reliable internet connection. Thats decades now.

When I first bought Nintendo Switch, I have bought it with like 10 physical games. Then I learned about the e-shop, so week later I have bought them again from e-shop.

The trend is obvious. And quite frankly I dont need more trash at home.

Since most of these digital sales are comprised of games that are mostly only available in digital storefronts, is there a recent-enough chart that displays the sales numbers for both the physical and digital version of each AAA retail game sold to an average mainstream retailer?

@Rhum17 Lack of demand, 100%

awkwardly glances at last 2 physical games he owns after selling all the others and rebuying them digitally

Convenience trumps all. We can all post here how we all try to buy physical games but if you're commenting on a gaming website you are more a gaming enthusiast than our typical Joe public gamer.

I think realistically ps6 will ditch physical games and that will start the true endgame of physical gaming just like on the PC

@Samuel-Flutter

500 games, physical or not, is bit insane

I own around 100 and I have actually played less than 20. Trashed too much money. If I buy Switch 2, it will be only exclusives and from those only AAA titles. Enough of 2D Zeldas and all other nonsense (from my perspective, I fully respect different opinions about different games) I drop within hour. I wish I could refund games if I spent less than 2 hours playing like on Steam.

thats too bad. Until consumers are protected from corporations' ability to steal purchased content back, I won't support digital games. I always buy physical

I've made my peace with moving to digital eventually. I draw my line at streaming. With my lifestyle having sometimes unreliable Internet, that's where I'll cut it off and be a "retro" gamer.

The biggest problem I see with current physical media being used in the future is a lack of updates. Once Nintendo's servers that support Switch games go down, games on carts are going to be locked into their original software version.

A great example might be Animal Crossing. So many updates were added in post release. Seasonal events, residents/characters like Leif, the ability to cook, the list goes on. So if a person decides to play AC for the first time after the servers went down, there's going to be a lot of necessary stuff that's going to be missing. I have no idea if newer cartridges got updated versions installed but this is acceptable grand example of a future dilemma. Especially as AC is an upper-tier title for Nintendo.

However, even with cartridges, it doesn't mean Nintendo and other companies can't taketh things away. Atari 50 had the game "Warbirds" removed with a day one patch due to licensing. This affected cartridge owners as well (if they updated the game,of course). While this probably won't affect future play with downed servers (like being able to have all the original songs in GTA titles that got yanked online due to license expiration) the fact that you can have stuff blocked on your physical copies is chilling.

Personally I do a mix. If digital is dirt cheap, I'll buy the titles (usually it's the small stuff). If the cart is worth it, I'll spring for it.

Do these brilliant assumptions come with the realization retailers don’t stock new games anymore unless it’s a huge title.
There are about 8 games last year I did not purchase that I wanted simply because the only way to get anything is preordering. I can’t go to a shop anymore and get what I want. It’s all special order in advance for any physical games that aren’t Mario, Sonic, ea sports or popular war shooter titles.
Don’t get me started on GameStop either…. A “new” game should never be sold as new if it’s already opened. I refuse the purchase from them online as new titles always come shipped opened.
Then with prices as crazy as they are really…. By the time there is a sale nothing is there in stock anyways and nothing is ever restocked anymore.
It’s not the players. It’s calculated moves from the industry and retailers trying to force this shift to happen. Probably for convenience and reduce theft and make space.
Nonetheless when physical goes so do I.

@Mjoen It sounds like you're mixing pre-orders with downloaded games?

I’m not sure I understand the huge concern about companies taking things away if you buy digital. As far as Nintendo, I don’t think that has ever happened. It’s 2025 and games I bought on Wii digitally back in 2007 and 2008 and can still be redownloaded today. Maybe there are a handful of exceptions? I’m not aware if there are any. If Nintendo ever goes out of business I guess they would be unavailable. At this point, I’m not concerned about it.

What the industry SHOULD do is include a one time use code in every physical copy of the game. That way, you can have the PHYSICAL copy of the game (to put on the shelf) as well as having the game downloaded to your console to run anytime, anywhere with out having to put the cartridge in.

I love collecting physical copies AND I love the convenience of purchasing digital copies. That means that I end up buying games I like twice. It's very expensive, and it means I end up buying half as many games each year since I am buying them twice for each title.

physical games all the way reason if some dont get physical copies ill just import them from playasia.

I learned my lesson of getting digital with:
1: Star Fox ZERO (WiiU)
2: Not being able to transfer WiiU purchases to Switch (we were originally told we would be able to by Iwata)
3: not actually owning the game.

@tofuman86
Not at all

@Mjoen I have noticed this. Some games that had physical versions aren't stocked in my local stores. Why haven't I seen a single physical copy of Epic Mickey: Rebrused? Switch or otherwise.

Missed opportunity for a niche reference in the sub-heading to say "Bye Bye, Boxboy"

For the Switch, we have a mix of physical and digital games. More digital, though. And dang-nabbit, when I finally sit down at 9pm after the kiddos are in bed and kick back the recliner (preferring to use our TV coupled with a pro controller), the realization that I've got the wrong game cartridge inserted is not well received.

Grand Theft Auto trilogy (physical) on Switch is $60

But on both M$ and P$ it's $25 physically
Price discrepancy needs to end!

Not the greatest news to read. Especially for physical. However, I don't see Nintendo throwing the physical cartridge baby out any time soon. Hope this trend will reverse when the next Switch is released, but I see turning into a 60/40, then 70/30 situation within the next 4 years.

@Spider-Kev not a complete 1:1 on those versions. GTA3 and San Andreas are on the cartridge, whereas the PlayStation and Xbox versions require downloads period. Plus, Nintendo manufacturers the physical cartridge and is the only one who uses them. The BR disc on the PlayStation and Xbox are all Sony.

I don't quite understand the the argument that physical games last longer than digital and are therefore preferred. Only half of my N64 cartridges work consistently at this point. My original Diddy Kong Racing cart is even corrupted. No game lasts forever! Yes, servers eventually shut down, but by that time I've moved on to a newer system that is more reliable at booting up. The Switch is great – NSO has kept my ability to play my old favorites alive and well.

@PKDuckman
Nintendo did the same with Bayonetta
Only #2 on cart, #1 was download only

@Spider-Kev then they released a Bayonetta 1 cartridge for those who wanted it. The full game is on it.

There is also this thing: they say the expected lifespan of Switch cartridges is 20 years, and then most of them will become useless. So once they start to fail, and we cannot access any eShop, we have to buy those games in our Switch 3-4. 😢I think that is sad about physical copies, and it makes me think twice before investing in any game.

maybe if the US didn't want everymiddle-to-low working class citizen to spend hundreds of dollars on the smallest of things nowadays this wouldn't have happened, especially with the 70 dollar price increase, lmao.

@SabreLevant
WiiU and 3DS had a full online infrastructure.
Full game downloads and free online play

I am digital only.

I don´t have patience to exchange the cartridge. I have 200+ switch games. Only 5 are physical.

These are the games I play the least, including Smash Bros Ultimate. Because the cartridge that is there will stay there for months, because I won't have the patience to change it. I play mostly in portable mode. On TV or in my Home Cinema I only play Steam games.

I have 4000+ cartridges, CDS, DVDS...for 32 videogames.
And I wanted to set them all on fire, or throw them in the trash, every time I needed to clean and maintain them in the past.

These 4,000+ games and video games are gathering dust in my parents' attic. And I don't have the patience to open these boxes and see if they still work.

The video games: Atari, Odyssey, Coleco, Intelivision, NES, Master System, Mega Drive, Sega CD, 32x, CD-I, Sega Saturn, SNES, N64, Dreamcast, 3DO, PlayStation 1,2,3,4, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, Game Cube, Wii, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, NDS, Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Xbox, Xbox 360.

I have no patience for retro games. I'll never play them again in my entire life. I don't even have an old TV to play them on. And the bad picture on old TVs doesn't help. My house is all modern. The retro games I play today are digital, on Steam and on the Nintendo Switch.

The fate of this pile of games and video games will be a donation to charity, or they will go away with my parents' house, the day they pass away and we sell the house.

@Rhum17
It feels more like "self-fulfilling prophecy"

Stores don't stock as much, blame customers for not buying so they stock less which leaves less for customers to buy which leads to stores not ordering which leads to...

Also, being taxed for online digital crap is well, crap!

@Spider-Kev Like I said, those efforts weren't nearly as prominent as the Switch. The WiiU is irrelevant as it was a commercial failure, and the 3DS absolutely did not bank as much on online sales

It's looking less likely as time goes on, but I really hope physical games last for as long as consoles do. I still prefer physical for anything with a large file size, or just anything that feels especially important. Having all my games tied to an account that could be shut down, stolen, or otherwise removed from my control just doesn't feel right. Plus, having to swap between multiple 1+ TB microSD cards by the end of the next generation sounds like a massive pain.

@PharoneTheGnome You're effectively asking for two copies of a game there

There's no denying digital sales are slowly taking over physical ones, but the chart is not clear to me. The y-axis seems to be the average money spent per customer, but what's a consumer? Do gamers on smartphones count as consumers? If so of course the value can only do down, because those gamers are more and more, and they're not going to buy anything physical on smartphones.

@Spider-Kev Why do you think shops stock less? (There's more desire for digital games)

As much as I still prefer physical video game media and still opt that way most of the time, I'll admit digital is becoming increasingly alluring. Mostly due to the environmental impact and space the plastic game cases take up. Also, many physical games outside of the Switch sphere and even in it by third parties are glorified license keys.

Most of my Switch collection is physical since I do like collecting my favorite franchises and also want an out when it comes to games I take a chance on and learn I don't like; this is increasingly rare these days since I know what games I will like. However, some titles are digital only, plus there are a small handful of retail games I do own digital due to great sales/deals and/or because it's a game I will switch to often and not ever trade in.

@Pillowpants it’s not as greedy as it looks because video games have cost 60 since the 90s and now they cost infinitely more to make yet cost the same as they did 30 years ago. The move to digital is the only chance a lot of Indy and AA developers have to make any money and keep people employed and making games.

The quality of AAAs being a major contributing factor

Kinda hard to sell something physically if it's not even worth downloading

I'm pretty sure one of the big reasons for the decline in physical sales is that stores don't have the physical product to sell anymore. I've gone to a Best Buy and seen a total of like 8 Xbox games on the shelves, I've gone to Target and saw 5 of the same. This goes for PS as well, although it's slightly larger. Over the last few years I've switched to almost exclusively buying physical switch games, but even that's getting harder to do. This leaves Amazon usually and now more than ever Play-Asia. So it's ironic they talk about declining sales when they don't sell the product on the shelves. Once physical is gone I'm no longer a collector and will most likely be a handful of games type of gamer.

@BobbleBubble Then again, it's not like digital is permanent either especially when corruption is there looming over out heads. If physical can't last forever then I can't digital to be any better in terms of longevity. Digital degradation is a thing & it will happen whether you like or not. So you might think deep about it. Do you think cloud storage will last forever too? That's another topic for discussion.

I always keep seeing folks parroting the same thing EVERYTIME articles like this appear. You'd think folks would get the memo but that's not really the reality.

@Tyranexx Is the environment really a good excuse for physical to go away?

@tofuman86 Funny how most folks aren't aware of that plus I, personally, think that digital consoles count as physical media just so they could access & play digital games.

I told someone that ONE time and that person accused me of twisting or putting words in their mouth. Just because of I was saying the simple truth...

I like to buy physical for the aesthetic, but I don't pretend for a moment it's some kind of foolproof preserved complete package. Someday people are going to be having to do all sorts of chicanery to get their old Switch carts playing again by simulating updates, when they could just use a complete digital package. And I also don't have any belief my Switch collection is going to be worth gobs of money someday. The reason the old media is valuable now is because most kids lost track or sold off their old Pokemon games. It doesn't work that way when everyone is buying and hoarding physical copies for their investments.

@Rhum17 Demand informs supply, not the other way around, you can't start with the shops being low on supply to begin with, that happened because the appetite for physical media has been going down

I'll always support physical games as long as the option is available to me. I've always preferred physical media however I'm not against digital since it's more convenient and is technically better for the environment. Ideally the best option is to have both since there's pros and cons either one.

One thing I love about physical is that I can lend games to friends of mine with ease or resell.

There are so many factors that contribute to these numbers that AREN'T "the consumer no longer wants physical media."

I worry how many people are going to (willfully?) misinterpret these data.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot My point is no game lasts forever, either digital or physical. Personally, I don't need either format to last forever, as I myself will not last forever.

If you are someone who continues to play games 20 years on after their original purchase, it isn't clear to me which form is better. I have digital games on the Wii that continue to play, but the truth is – I don't play them. Same for my old physical games, a number of which no longer function anyhow.

No wonder, look at Metal Gear Solid physical release. Do you need any more comments for that?

I will buy physical as much as I can. Do these reports ever take into account the games with zero physical release?

As someone who has around 600 physical switch games, I for one will be going mostly digital on Switch 2. The reason why is the FOMO generated by collecting physical games got to be too much and the reprints pretty much sealed it for me. All I have to show for it is a room full of games that cost $35 -$60 a piece that I could have got on the eshop for $5 - $20.

@SabreLevant
While that may be true if most things, that doesn't explain stores like best buy and target who stopped sticking movies in store even though a ton of people buy them.
Movies sell more than books and yet Target replaced their movie section with books

@SabreLevant
No, the WiiU is not irrelevant just because it was deemed a failure.
The fact is it had a full online experience.
As did 3DS.

Just because you don't want to count them, doesn't mean they weren't.

@jorel262
These reports are always skewed against Physical.
On purpose.

@Spider-Kev You are skewing facts to fit your narrative, I don't know why but it isn't going to change the fact fewer people are buying physical media. VHS, DVDs etc have definitely gone out of style for example, so a 'ton of people' buying them does not hold up.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot Based on who you ask: it depends.

I'm under no illusion that physical games going away today will have a huge positive environmental impact compared to other pollutants or industries, nor that giving them up means that we automatically stop contributing; pretty much anyone in modern society contributes in varying ways, though the alternative of living completely off the grid and becoming self-sufficient is unsustainable for many. The best we can do is lessen our impact as much as possible, though at the individual level this depends on one's available means and resources.

I don't want physical games to go away since that ultimately takes options away from the consumer. I like owning my games in a complete package, especially when it comes to retro titles. However, in today's market the "whole package" usually involves some sort of update or patch. At best these are companies patching out issues that sneaked through development and QA, some of which can safely be ignored. At worst...rushed games, lazy/cost saving media storage, and unnecessary addons being tacked on after the fact. There are compelling arguments to both sides of the coin (ignoring...ugh...streaming, which WILL make me become a retro only gamer if it ever becomes the only option), but I'll admit digital will start looking way more enticing than it already is if more consumer protections are put in place.

@SabreLevant
Go look at weekly sale charts,
Physical media (movies and TV shows) sells ridiculously still!

I'm am not forcing my narrative!

@ScalenePowers It’s also that our shopping habits are growing very lazy

@Spider-Kev In he US at least, there’s a good reason why you can’t find Audio CDs at Best Buy, nor Blurays at Target (brick and mortar stores) anymore.

I think Fred Meyers / Kroger still has some though

@Kejomo Wow that’s an impressive collection

Day no physical day I'll stop with current gen of console cant sell or trade so buy another game. Would get expensive. I keep a few games that I'd replay. Same movies wouldn't buy digital like my blu rays. Do rent new movies digital from Amazon but not much choice as no video rental shops now . Maybe cos I close to 40.younger generation think different.

@Tyranexx I agree with the environment thing you said . But then the downside you're got huge server farms burning electric to store all this data. That why I don't understand how a electric car green need electric to power and nuclear power station. Causing pollution less energy coming from a green sauce solar farm etc

I’m switching from physical next gen (starting with switch 2 and my new gaming PC will stop buying physical for current gen soon. Some games are physical only at this point though. ) because I literally have to have way too much furniture dedicated to storage and organizing my physical library. I am middle aged now. Not trying to slip a disc over some games or pay 6months pay to movers. Plus it takes forever to find games now. When your library is in the several thousands it isn’t cute anymore looking for a game in particular. Especially since mine are split between two rooms. When I get the Zelda switch 2 I will buy 3 2TB microsd cards and call it a day. Storage solved. Thank Microsoft for game pass.

Not to mention I misplaced a switch game last weekend and gotta tear my game room up looking for it.

I still going to buy as much as possible physical.

would be interesting to see how this chart looks like for switch only.

@Bluesaxo Right, you've brought up a good point, and that is why I mentioned overall impacts in my previous comment. There is currently no one size fits all solution, and I don't think we'll ever be completely able to mitigate how we impact the environment. But we can take steps, and said steps sometimes depend on how someone can best implement them within their means. I think moving the grid onto fully renewable resources is one good step, though one that takes a lot of convincing, time, money, and red tape (at least from what I've observed as a US citizen).

Kind of a tangent, but I had no clue how much energy data centers and the like can consume until I looked into crypto mining a few years ago. Mainly out of curiosity to see how it worked. Moreso when helping look into cloud server solutions related to my job.

@FishyS Ah is that really so? I thought it always said “Nintendo doesn’t report digital sales”, which I thought was true for these pages too.

Switch is the only system I buy physical for still. I never bought a really large SD card, so I like physical because it takes up less space.

There's a thousand things I could comment on but I'll just pick one for now. With numbers like these plummeting, the resale market is all but dead. These days I pretty much bounce between GameFly and digital downloads (with heavy discounts, if possible). I sprinkle in the oddball physical title when it's either an evergreen title, or I really love a game, such as the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X. As a result of me noticing my own digital vs physical ratio lately, I've already resolved to buy as large a microSD card as possible for Switch 2, starting with 2TB.

I'm part of the issue because despite me buying physical games I almost exclusively purchase second-hand copies from eBay. Way cheaper but I'm not able to support the developers directly.

@Tyranexx I live in UK. And when planning permission for wind farms or solar farms get put forward people object. I don't understand why you would when It helping the environment I try to be green as I can buy used books video games and the packaging I buy my food in recyclable. It a hard world to try to live but not having the way we want to live effect are environment. Tryed vegan a d vegetarian diet left me weak and immune.i do feel little bad buying physical games new cos the plastic. But then go on shop and game 15 pounds more . Only way get people move digital if it's cheaper than physical and guarantee won't lose right to redownload game because store lost Thier licence to it.

People were still getting put into lockdown (and money from government) in 2021, 2024 is also a far less major title year.

GTA VI for example alone would make this much larger.

@turnmebackwards as cards are extremely cheap especially when bought in bulk. A 128gb can easily be achieved for under $10 usd, game companies can get these for probably less than $5.

Digital is only becoming more and more because games are incomplete and dlcs are rampant. People do not want to buy a 1/3 of a game physical and download the rest. Nintendo has it right by putting games in a sd card. They are cheap and can hold massive amounts of data. Game companies need to move to this and make all patches and dlcs download straight to the cards as well allowing people to own a true physical copy. I would be more than happy to pay an extra 10-20% more for a physical copy if this was the case.

@SabreLevant One physical and one digital. Yes. Yes I am.

Such a bummer that I'm one of the few hold outs.

I was incredibly excited for the upcoming Avowed on Xbox Series X and then realized there would be no physical version. I'm unfortunately going to have to pass on the game now, but speaking with my wallet won't do much to convince Microsoft to change.

@PharoneTheGnome And you'd be willing to pay double price for that then?

@SabreLevant No. But, thank you for asking.

Maybe Switch 3 will have room for multiple game card slots so that portability won't be as much of an issue for physical ownership. But Nintendo makes more from digital sales, so they wouldn't want to encourage that. Onward to dystopia we asymptotically descend. "You'll own nothing, and you'll like it."

Remember y'all, Steam libraries are not legally allowed to be passed on to heirs. Probably the same is true for digital games more broadly.

@PharoneTheGnome Then why the heck would you think publishers would give you two copies of a game in one package? That's just daft.

@Bluesaxo I've looked into some of the solar and wind pushback. Some objections have some merit - negative effects on the environment, wildlife (such as migrating birds), and noise pollution to name a few - but others are typically based on fear and/or misinformation. Some renewable tech either needs refined or hadn't quite caught up with our needs yet.

Sounds like you're trying to do what you can for the environment! I do agree that some of the allure of physical media is that it also receives more discounts than digital, which is one of the reasons why I buy most retail titles that way. Still, way more robust consumer rights would push me more towards digital. Such as actual ownership instead of a license, guaranteed purchase migration with an account, and rights to our save files.

Take this info with a grain of salt. There is one thing the report fails to notice and that is the sales of used games.

Switch is at the end of it's life and there are a lot of physical games out there on the market. Some games are easy to find so not. But even though brand new games are still available at retail stores many including myself will shop around for used titles to pay a fraction of that cost. Once a game gets sold it isn't recognized for how many times it gets resold after that.

Say what you will about digital copies but I have yet to have purchased any digital games. Digital only releases I just don't buy.

Granted there are a lot of people out there they don't care which they get physical or digital so when digital is available immediately where physicals you have to wait weeks, many won't wait and will just buy digital.

Granted some physical games these days don't even have the games on the physical format you have to download the content. Any updates you still have to download.

But if you want to be able to play your game in any device physicals still rule. Also especially if you are buying a Nintendo game they often do have the whole game on the physical media so you do save a lot of memory space by buying physicals. I just think it is easy to loos data on devices so having a backup, physical copy is always a plus.

@SabreLevant There is NO REASON why they can't make it so you put the cartridge in to "install" the game, and then be able to take the cartridge out to store it on your shelf while still being able to play the game.

@PharoneTheGnome Agreed, though that's different from providing a separate install key
There's little sense to Nintendo's decisions sometimes - take for example not being able to back up your saves unless you subscribe to NSO, that's just a vindictive practice

But yeah as for being able to install the game, I suppose equally they don't want people passing around games like install media

@SabreLevant right, but they could fix that by assigning a GUID to each chip during manufacturing. That way every single cartridge has a unique identifying ID that can be associated with an install. If someone tries to use that cartridge to install the game, it could deactivate anywhere else it is installed.