Capcom shrugs off PlayStation’s all-digital future, suggests shrinking physical market will not have a “significant impact” on its operations
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Capcom says it does not expect the declining physical games market to have a significant effect on its business, as around 90% of its unit sales are already digital. The publisher’s position adds to the industry debate over Sony’s reported move away from PlayStation discs by 2028, which could further reduce physical purchasing options.
The company made the comment in a quarterly financial-report Q&A, responding to an investor’s question about the medium- and long-term impact of physical-market decline. Capcom also reported strong recent sales, with Resident Evil Requiem exceeding 8 million units and Pragmata reaching 2.5 million, while it has brought forward Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s release after development progress and market considerations.
- Capcom says physical-market decline should not significantly affect it.
- About 90% of Capcom unit sales are digital.
- Recent game sales support Capcom’s confident outlook.
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Sony has announced plans to move PlayStation consoles away from physical discs by 2028, focusing instead on digital downloads. This has raised concerns for game publishers who still rely on selling physical copies of games, since a shrinking disc market could affect their revenue if customers cannot easily buy games in shops or resell used discs.
Capcom, the Japanese publisher behind franchises such as Resident Evil and Onimusha, has responded to investor questions about this shift by saying it does not expect the change to seriously affect its business. This is largely because the vast majority of its game sales already happen digitally rather than through physical discs, meaning it is less exposed than some rivals to a decline in physical retail.
Capcom is one of several major publishers, alongside companies like Sega, being asked to explain how they will adapt to Sony's changing approach to hardware and game distribution. The issue matters to the wider games industry because it touches on how consumers buy and own games, the future of second-hand game sales, and how much control publishers and platform owners have over pricing and access as the market moves further towards digital-only formats.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates of the industry's digital shift argue that Capcom's confidence is simply a rational response to where consumers already are: with roughly nine in ten of its sales already digital, publishers gain efficiency, lower distribution and manufacturing costs, and closer control over pricing, patches and anti-piracy measures. They see all-digital platforms as reducing waste from unsold discs, offering instant access and regional flexibility, and freeing development budgets to be reinvested in games rather than physical logistics, which ultimately benefits both publishers' margins and players' convenience.
The case against
Critics of the all-digital trajectory argue that phasing out physical media strips consumers of genuine ownership, since digital licences can be revoked, delisted or rendered unplayable if servers or storefronts eventually shut down, undermining game preservation and collector culture. They value the resale, lending, price-competition and offline-access benefits that discs provide, and worry that publishers cheerfully accepting this shift, as Capcom has, signals an industry drifting further from consumer interests towards models that prioritise recurring revenue and platform control over long-term access to purchased media.