Circana analyst Mat Piscatella has provided new insight into the changing landscape of physical and digital game sales in the United States, suggesting that while Nintendo remains the last major publisher maintaining a strong focus on physical distribution, the company’s transition toward digital sales is accelerating with the release of the Switch 2.
Speaking with YouTuber Spawn Wave in a recent discussion, Piscatella addressed the broader market divide between physical and digital formats, including speculation on whether the next generation of consoles could move to digital-only hardware. During the conversation, he remarked, “I agree with you, I don’t think next Xbox will have a disc drive.” He also noted uncertainty around the future of Sony’s approach, stating, “Given current attach rates of the PlayStation add-on drive to the digital versions of that console I’m 50/50 that’ll happen again, I’m not sure. There are a lot of parts of the world where physical is much more important than say in the U.S… But we are getting there.”
Piscatella added that while a completely digital future may still be distant, even Nintendo is showing signs of moving in that direction. “Nintendo is the last remaining of the physical forward publishers and even they are starting to make that flip. At least in the U.S, other parts of the world may be different. Nintendo still maintains a physical focus and a retailer focus as where the other manufacturers have kind of effectively or nearly effectively moved on to a great degree.”
When discussing the impact of the Switch 2, he observed that digital adoption among Nintendo’s audience appears to be increasing more rapidly than before. “There is that dedicated buyer that loves physical but like you said that mix is continuing to shift and with the most recent Switch model you know we are seeing that shift happening a little bit faster even on Nintendo.”
The Nintendo Switch 2, launched on June 5, 2025, continues the hybrid console legacy of its predecessor while introducing significant hardware upgrades, including a 7.9-inch 1080p LCD display, a custom Nvidia Tegra processor, 12GB of RAM, and 4K output when docked. Retailing for $449.99 in the U.S., the console remains backward-compatible with most original Switch titles and supports both physical cartridges and digital eShop downloads.
Although official digital versus physical sales data for the Switch 2’s early months have not yet been released, analysts note that the overall industry trend continues to favor digital revenue growth. For Nintendo, which has long prioritized retail partnerships and collectible physical editions, this shift marks a gradual but significant evolution in its business model.
As digital ecosystems expand and high-speed connectivity becomes more universal, the next few years may determine how long physical media maintains a meaningful foothold in the console market. For now, as Piscatella suggests, even Nintendo’s historically physical-leaning audience is beginning to embrace the digital future—one download at a time.
