Capcom Argues Physical Media Is Still “A Significant Demand” Among Consumers

In the ever-evolving world for digital media continuing to grow, the market space for physical content is seeing less & less support across the industry. In 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that roughly 150 GameStop locations closed thanks to the surging demand for digital goods in video games. And this is a continuing trend with consoles even now not equipped with disc drives to play physical content.

Certain firms are already closing down its efforts for retail concerning physical releases. Reported back in January, Microsoft shuttered its retail publication division for physical media. And other firms are ramping up for digital-only with the rampant decline in demand. In 2020, Capcom accounted roughly 80 percent of its sales is digital and already begun minimizing physical support moving forward.

However, the firm in a new statement as part of an investors Q&A held this week, it reveals that the firm does acknowledge there is still a present demand for physical media. It even goes to say it will not close down its physical effort anytime soon. “Given that a significant number of end users demand physical games we currently do not expect to eliminate physical products.”

From Niko Partners analyst David Ahmad, he chimes in on the matter in an X thread. “The only issue with this statement is that 90.1% of Capcom’s software unit sales last year were via digital download, and they expect it to reach 93.2% this year. […] Ultimately, there is a legitimate reason why Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is digital only.  The ‘significant demand’ part of the quote only applies to their new AAA releases. Not necessarily AA games or catalog games.”

Capcom is not the first to argue against trends in the market. Previously, Ubisoft even fought against physical media being done with in one interview. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you for or against physical games being eliminated?

Source: Capcom