Now that Sony's set the precedent of ending new physical games on PlayStation systems come 2028, one question is whether the competition will follow. One analyst doesn't think Nintendo is going to follow suit, because, well, the house of Mario and Zelda is a trendsetter, not follower.
As of now, the plan for Sony is to stop making discs for any new PlayStation games as of January 2028. It's a radical move, and one that's not sitting well within the industry. But it's unlikely to have ramifications for every other major force within the medium, because Nintendo, at least, plays by its own rules.
"My gut says Nintendo does what Nintendo wants to do," Mat Piscatella, senior director and video game industry advisor at Circana, tells VGC. "I don't see them changing anything in their plans based on what Sony or Microsoft do on anything, really. Nintendo is going to be Nintendo, for better and/or worse."
New physical video games will last only as long as the console manufacturers allow them to. Been saying this for years, and here we are.
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T15:05:05.698Z
This has been the reality for decades now, going back to the Nintendo 64 having cartridges instead of discs and the GameCube being the only major console of the era not to have a built-in DVD player. Nintendo goes its own way, and while this is something the company will likely notice, the probability seems low it'll impact any plans.
As Piscatella points out, Nintendo's still a big force in the world of games retail. Switch 2 games are some of the biggest sellers globally at the minute, and the likes of Pokemon, Mario, Kirby, and Zelda are merchandise machines.
"Retail has already leaned into Nintendo support more and more over the past few years (Nintendo also holds very strong share of physical software and hardware sales since the launch of Switch 2 in particular), so this could continue to increase, sure," he says.
"It's not like boxes on shelves will go away entirely with this change," he continues. "There will be more codes in boxes, more merch, maybe more special editions with swag included, that kind of thing. But the change should also result in the continued decline in physical game retail spend."
