The end of an era?
Physical media has been a hot-button issue for a while now, but recently came back into the spotlight with Sony announcing that it will be ending disc production starting in 2028. The death knell of physical games felt nigh following the announcement, but the shining beacon in the dark was Nintendo, which continued to produce cartridges with the launch of its Switch 2 console and is still making them to this day… for now. Word has dropped from Senior Analyst at MST Financial David Gibbons that a partner in Nintendo’s development of game cartridges is going to be closing up its production of the vital ROMs that are needed to print the games.
Macronix, the manufacturer in question, revealed this shift in a financial report. The company discussed how the revenue generated by its production of ROMs had shrunk by 39 percent compared to the previous year all the way down to only five percent of its overall total. This massive dip precipitated the need to jettison this portion of Macronix’s business. This move could potentially have an adverse impact on Nintendo’s production of physical games, as it would limit where the company is able to get these ROMs by losing the resources of this partner company.
There are other companies that can pick up the slack for Macronix, but the concern is that by having one less provider, it could accelerate Nintendo’s transition away from physical games. The company has stated that cartridges are important to its customer base, so one could assume Nintendo would do everything it can to keep the carts coming. However, with one company leaving the market, the question then becomes who might be next? How long can Nintendo keep things going without having to eventually resort to doing all the production work internally, and would it even want to? All questions that will be answered in time. For now, the cartridges are still here, but if it’s something that concerns you, continue supporting physical media to send a message to manufacturers that you still want it.
Source: David Gibbons X Account