Capcom told investors it does not expect the shrinking physical game market to significantly affect its business, noting that approximately 90 percent of its unit sales are already digital. The comment came in response to a question in the Q&A portion of the publisher's latest quarterly earnings report, where an investor asked what impact Capcom anticipates from the shrinking physical game market in the medium to long term. The company's full reply was brief: "Approximately 90% of our unit sales are digital. We do not anticipate a significant impact at this time."
The response arrives as the wider industry moves toward all-digital distribution. Sony has said it plans to stop manufacturing PlayStation discs starting in 2028, a decision that has drawn strong criticism, including from a digital rights organization that called it an "attack on our diminishing rights." Nintendo's Switch 2 has also drawn scrutiny for its Game-Key cards, which function similarly to download codes rather than traditional cartridges that store the full game—and Capcom counts sales of these cards as digital. Upcoming blockbuster Grand Theft Auto 6 is also reportedly skipping physical discs entirely.
Capcom's confidence comes on the back of strong recent results. The publisher reported a 68 percent increase in game unit sales compared to the same period in 2025, with net sales up 54.7 percent and ordinary profit up 81.1 percent. Resident Evil Requiem has surpassed 8 million in sales, and new IP Pragmata has sold through 2.5 million units, exceeding the company's expectations. In its financial filing, Capcom emphasized ongoing investment in expanding its digital sales business as part of its growth strategy.
Capcom isn't alone in downplaying concerns about the shift away from physical media—Sega has also said it believes "a digital shift is crucial" to the industry's longevity. However, coverage of the move has noted that going fully digital is often viewed as detrimental to consumers: analysts have found that games are typically cheaper in physical stores, and Sony has also faced criticism over experimentation with dynamic pricing. Other publishers have pointed out that physical releases help reach audiences that digital storefronts alone cannot.
Some coverage questioned the tone of Capcom's response, noting that dismissing a potential loss of up to 10 percent of unit sales as insignificant seems notable for a large company, even if it's unclear how many of those physical buyers would simply switch to digital rather than not purchasing at all. Separately, Capcom also confirmed it moved up the release date for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, still due in 2026, citing development progress and "the market environment"—a decision some observers linked to the looming release of Grand Theft Auto 6.