{"id":375487,"date":"2026-08-20T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/?p=375487"},"modified":"2026-09-30T08:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T15:25:50","slug":"nintendo-dominates-u-s-physical-game-sales-this-year-xbox-at-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/nintendo-dominates-u-s-physical-game-sales-this-year-xbox-at-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo dominates U.S. physical game sales this year: Xbox at 4%"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nintendo has taken a clear lead in U.S. physical video game sales this year, making up 63%<\/strong> of new boxed game purchases, according to new industry data. PlayStation is at 32%, and Xbox is a little over 4%.<\/p>\n\n

Those numbers point to a boxed market that’s getting smaller while leaning harder toward Nintendo. Switch and Switch 2 owners are still picking up cartridges<\/strong>, whether it’s for collecting, lending games out, giving them as gifts, or simply because that’s how they’ve always bought them.<\/p>\n\n

Xbox has gone farther than anyone else in leaving discs behind. The same industry data says 91%<\/strong> of Xbox software sales are now digital, compared with 78% on Sony’s PlayStation 5 and 53% on Nintendo. That also helps explain why publishers keep pushing downloads: they skip about 35% to 50% in manufacturing, shipping, and retail costs.<\/p>\n\n

If you’re still buying physical games, this is a trend to keep an eye on. U.S. spending on boxed games has dropped by about 86%<\/strong>, from $11.5 billion in 2009 to roughly $1.6 billion in 2026, based on the industry data. Nintendo Switch 2 has given the category a small lift, though, and delivered its first year-over-year increase in 17 years.<\/p>\n\n

You can already see where this is going. Reports say Sony is aiming for January 2028<\/a><\/strong> to end new PlayStation discs, Grand Theft Auto 6 is widely expected to come in a box with a download code, and physical diehards are still making the same case for ownership, resale, preservation, and a safeguard against storefront shutdowns or licensing changes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nintendo has taken a clear lead in U.S. physical video game sales this year, making up 63% of new boxed game purchases, according to new industry data. PlayStation is at 32%, and Xbox is a little over 4%. Those numbers point to a boxed market that’s getting smaller while leaning harder toward Nintendo. Switch and … Continue reading “Nintendo dominates U.S. physical game sales this year: Xbox at 4%”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":375486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[6823],"class_list":["post-375487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","content-category-games"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t