Nintendo's vice president and general manager for Latin America, Bill van Zyll, says that the company has no plans to ditch physical media.
Physical media has become a big talking point in the last couple of years. Last year, Nintendo caused preservation concerns thanks to the introduction of Game Key Cards – physical cartridges that allow you to download a game, while not holding any of its data. However, Game Key Cards are very much in the rear view window this year with Rockstar Games' decision to ship GTA 6 exclusively as a code in box release, swiftly followed by Sony announcing it's killing off discs for new PlayStation games in 2028.
Speaking to YouTube creator Coelho no Japão (via Nintendo Everything), Van Zyll is asked about Nintendo's stance on physical media in the wake of PlayStation's decision, with him responding, "Historically, we've been very agnostic, right? We go off what the consumer prefers, and take that into account very heavily."
He then cites that "we also have a platform that was just launched," noting the Switch 2's ability to play both physical and digital games.
"There's no plans to ditch physical," Van Zyll explains. "We know how much the fans like it as well, so our position has been to be agnostic."
However, unfortunately, that's of course only the stance right now, and there's no telling what the future holds, but hopefully Nintendo will stick with it for a while longer. Given that every first-party release except for Pokemon Pokopia and the upcoming Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition have been actual physical releases instead of Game Key Cards, it may be a good sign for now.
