Still limping
This doesn’t mean Nintendo will follow Sony into a world without physical game production. On the contrary, the Switch maker said last month that it has no plans to discontinue game cartridges in the near future. But these cartridges could become more expensive to produce, as Nintendo is forced to rely on suppliers like Rohm and Lapis Semiconductor for its remaining ROM chips.
This could also have a knock-on effect on the prices publishers charge for physical Switch cartridges. Earlier this year, Nintendo started charging more for some physical games than the equivalent digital download. And last year, Japanese publisher Inin only committed to releasing a full Switch cartridge for Dimensions of type R III after stating that “two new, smaller cartridge sizes (storage capacity) for Nintendo Switch 2” reduced the cost of producing these carts.
On the other hand, Gibson notes that digital software sales accounted for 61.5% of Nintendo’s business in the second calendar quarter of 2026, up slightly from the previous year. If this number continues to rise, the decline in demand for ROM-based Nintendo cartridges could end up balancing out the costs involved eventually.
Gn tech
