Highlights

  • Nintendo reaffirmed its commitment to physical game sales alongside digital for future consoles like the Switch 2.
  • President Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged the trend towards digital, but stated Nintendo will continue to support physical distribution as well.
  • Nintendo will invest in the Nintendo Account system for the Switch 2 to maintain long-term customer relationships.

Nintendo confirmed it was committed to continuing the sale of physical copies of its games for the foreseeable future. Despite the increasing digitization of the video game industry, Nintendo has persisted in its support of both physical and digital mediums throughout the lifetime of its beloved current-generation flagship console, the Switch. Now with the successor to the Switch expected to launch within the next year or so, a top executive at the company reaffirmed its stance.

Ever since details regarding the ongoing development of the Switch 2 were leaked, fans have been desperately scrounging through official forums and social media in the hopes of finding more details regarding Nintendo's next flagship console. Users were particularly interested in the company's answers regarding several features, such as the quality of the Switch 2's hardware upgrades, backward compatibility with last-gen titles, and whether the console will still support physical mediums or if it will focus on its increasingly popular digital platform.

upcoming nintendo switch games mario & luigi, legend of zelda wisdom of echoes, metroid prime 4
Related
Every Major Video Game Release Coming Soon For Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch's library is vast and constantly growing. Here is every major new Switch game releasing in 2024 or beyond.

Some of the company's investors echoed these concerns and were able to voice them directly to President Shuntaro Furukawa during Nintendo's latest earnings Q&A. While Furukawa notably acknowledged the massive growth of its digital businesses in comparison to its status at the start of the Switch's lifecycle, the president claimed the company intended to maximize sales on all storefronts, which included both digital and physical sales together. Furukawa further stated Nintendo currently had no intention of departing from this policy and the company intended to support and improve both physical and digital distribution systems for the foreseeable future.

Nintendo President Believes More Users Will Convert to Digital

With that said, Furukawa additionally revealed he was aware of the increasing trend of digitization in the video game industry and confirmed not even Nintendo was an exception to the ongoing trend. The president believed that as online stores and content became increasingly convenient and useful for developers and consumers alike, more users would gravitate towards the digital medium, and expected the shift in the market would be readily apparent in the years following the release of the Switch's successor.

Furukawa also confirmed the company would continue investing in the Nintendo Account system on the Switch 2. Though the president did not specify how far the company's support extended, he confirmed that Nintendo aimed to foster a long-term relationship with its customers through the account system across hardware generations, which included the highly anticipated successor to the Switch.

While the increasing digitization of Nintendo's business model has provided players with unparalleled access to the best titles on the Switch, the trend is not without its drawbacks. Most notably, concerns over digital ownership are prevalent among the gaming community, who are worried that the system might be rife for abuse by major developers and publishers.