Capcom does not expect the decline of physical game sales to cause major problems for the company. The publisher said that digital purchases already make up the vast majority of its unit sales.
The comment comes as the console market moves further away from traditional discs and cartridges. Sony plans to stop manufacturing new PlayStation game discs in 2028, with new PlayStation releases moving to digital-only sales from January 2028. A warning already appearing on some PS5 packaging says games released before that cutoff will continue to work on disc, while newer titles will be sold through the PlayStation Store and retailers in digital format. Nintendo’s Switch 2 Game-Key cards work more like download codes than complete games stored on a cartridge. Those cards can be sold or shared, but they do not provide the same form of ownership as physical media.
Capcom already sells most games digitally
Capcom addressed the potential effect of shrinking physical sales in its latest investor Q&A. Its response was straightforward and is also included in the company’s financial results document: Approximately 90% of our unit sales are digital. We do not anticipate a significant impact at this time.
That figure includes Game-Key card sales, which Capcom classifies as digital. The company behind Resident Evil and Monster Hunter is already relying heavily on online storefronts, so fewer boxed copies would affect a smaller part of its business than it would for publishers that still depend on physical releases.
Capcom’s latest quarter delivered strong results
Capcom’s position followed a strong quarter. From April 1 through June 30, the company recorded net sales of ¥70.41 billion (about $430 million), up 54.7% from the same period a year earlier. Operating profit reached ¥41.05 billion (about $250 million), an increase of 66.9% year over year.
Game sales drove much of that performance. Capcom sold 23.81 million units during the quarter, compared with 14.16 million units during the same period last year.
Resident Evil Requiem provides a clear example of Capcom’s digital-heavy sales model. The game has sold more than 8 million copies, with most of those sales coming through digital storefronts.
Sony’s own figures point in the same direction. Digital purchases accounted for 82% of PlayStation software sales in the latest quarter, according to the latest PlayStation sales figures.
The change remains more complicated for players. Physical games can be resold, bought second-hand, and kept as complete products after a storefront changes or shuts down. A disc-free market also removes one of the more affordable ways for some players to buy games.
Capcom’s answer shows why the move toward digital sales will not affect every publisher in the same way. For a company with around 90% of its unit sales already coming from digital products, the decline of discs and cartridges is unlikely to create an immediate business problem.
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