Summary
Capcomhas no intention of giving up on physical game releases, the company said. And while this confirmation is bound to be seen as good news by the publisher’s fans who fancy themselves game collectors,Capcom’s physical sales aren’t exactly looking too good nowadays.
That issue is hardly unique to the Japanese gaming giant, as physical game sales have largely been declining since the aughts. Their digital counterparts have nowadays grown to the point that publishers are actively cutting back on physical releases, which was most recently reflected in thereport of Microsoft laying off its Xbox retail team.
Capcom Reiterates Commitment to Physical Game Releases
Capcom, for its part, isn’t planning any such major changes in the foreseeable future. A company representative suggested as much during the group’s latest general shareholder meeting held in late June 2024. According to a newly publishedtranscriptof the event, the gathering saw Capcom reiterate its commitment to physical game releases, not least because the company sees “a significant number of end users” continue to demand such products.
Future Capcom Physical Releases Might Be AAA-Only
Although the publisher did not elaborate on the matter any further, its newly restated dedication to physical media does not appear to be unconditional. One doesn’t need to look too hard for evidence of that being the case, as it was only a few days ago thatKunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddesswas released as a digital-only title. Capcom hasn’t given any indication that it ever plans to treat that particular game to a physical release. It hence seems plausible that its physical retail commitment will primarily apply to the publisher’s AAA titles moving forward.
Capcom’s Physical Game Sales Are on a Sharp Decline
Such an approach tracks with the current state of the global gaming industry, whose revenue has been largely driven by digital purchases for a while now. In Capcom’s case, itsphysical game sales have been decliningsince its fiscal year 2022, when they amounted to just 10.6% of the group’s total consumer sales. That share further dropped to 9.9% during the company’s following fiscal year, which concluded in March 2024. As for the currently ongoing period, Capcom estimates that physical releases will account for only 6.8% of its total game sales in FY24.
2019
19.4%
80.6%
2020
23.1%
76.9%
2021
24.5%
75.5%
2022
10.6%
89.4%
2023
9.9%
90.1%
2024 (forecast)
6.8%
93.2%
And though the company isn’t planning to give up on physical releases for the time being, it remains to be seen what its near-future retail strategy will actually look like. Its distribution strategy could definitely have some variety, as underlined by the fact that the recently announcedAce Attorney Investigations Collectionis getting a geographically limited physical release; consumers in North America will only be able to buy a boxed copy of the game for the Switch, whereas its European physical release will be limited to the PlayStation version.
