Industry analyst Mat Piscatella has predicted that PlayStation has one more generation of physical media support, while Nintendo possibly has two.
The Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana (NPD) commented on a statement from Josh Fairhurst, CEO at Limited Run Games. The latter reminded fans of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered that the game’s Xbox version is not planned for release at traditional retail, and the Collector’s Edition is their only chance to get a physical version for the platform. Piscatella stated that gaming audiences should probably get used to there being no physical Xbox versions of games across the market sooner rather than later.
The analyst gave PlayStation another console generation and Nintendo two before they go all-digital like Xbox is already beginning to do. A Twitter/X user responded to him by saying that Nintendo’s audience includes casual players who pick up games in the store at a whim. As a result, its games tend to be “evergreen” long-term sellers, which is why the console maker may never abandon physical games. Piscatella didn’t agree with these views, however.
We believe it’s a fair assumption to make, considering how an increasing number of console players are making a majority of their purchases digitally. That said, Sony Interactive Entertainment may opt to offer add-on disc drives, and possibly a console SKU with a pack-in disc drive, for some time. On the other hand, Nintendo’s user base will indeed take longer to move from physical media to digital distribution. It’s also true that its first-party titles are seen as “evergreen” long-term sellers with good resale value.
One upcoming title that won’t be launching on physical media for either Xbox or PlayStation is Black Myth: Wukong. The official pre-order FAQ for the title states that it is the first time Game Science is releasing a console game globally, and it is currently facing limitations in offline resources required for the import, export, transportation, distribution, and sales of physical discs. As a result, physical copies of Black Myth: Wukong will come with an activation code for the digital version instead of offering a standard disc.
