Nintendo isn’t backing away from physical media, including video game discs, or, in this case, cartridges for the Nintendo Switch 1 & 2. Sony may have officially backed away from physical PlayStation discs (starting in January 2028), but Nintendo executive Bill van Zyll says the company has “no plans to ditch physical” in a recent interview with Brazilian content creator Coelho no Japão.

Recent sales reports tell us that Nintendo holds the majority of market share for physical games, with PlayStation and Xbox in second and third, respectively, especially with the latter’s focus on Xbox Game Pass. The popularity of physical games is heightened in regions such as Brazil, according to van Zyll. He also says Switch 1 vs Switch 2 sales are “about 50/50” in the region.

Nintendo Switch 2 caters to both digital and physical markets

“Historically, we’ve been very agnostic. We go off what the consumer prefers, and take that into account very heavily. We also have a platform that just launched, we’re barely just over a year into Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s got both digital and physical capabilities, so there’s no plans to ditch physical. We know how much the fans like it as well, so our position has been to be agnostic.”

Bill van Zyll, Vice President and General Manager of Nintendo for Latin America

Van Zyll explains that while digital sales grew during the COVID era, the company has seen a recovery of physical sales in the years since – especially in Latin America. We’ve also seen some return to ‘tradition’ in the United States, with retailer Best Buy hosting a 2000s-style physical midnight release for the Ocarina of Time, which is due to release on November 5.

The original Nintendo Switch features much less storage space (32 GB or 64GB for the OLED model) than its successor (the Switch 2 boasts 256 GB), so physical cartridges remain even more important on the original console when relying on internal storage. On the digital side of things, Nintendo also introduced the Virtual Game Card system for digital game sharing.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.