Quote of the day by former Nintendo President Satoru Iawata: 'It will require many years and months for the majority of video game purchases to become digital' correctly predicting dominance of digital games today back in 2009

Date:
Wed, 08 Jul 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Description:
The then Nintendo President was on the money

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter The way that consumers buy
video games is changing, with Sony recently announcing that it would cease
the production of new PlayStation game discs in January 2028 in a bid to push consumers towards more profitable digital purchases.

It's a big shift for the $500+ billion dollar video game industry, which once had a significant retail presence in the US, but one that has been predicted for some time. It will require many years and months for the majority of
video game purchases to become digital. In short, in 20 years or so I might say it will have probably changed." Satoru Iawata, November 2009 A matter of time Speaking in an investor Q&A session all the way back in 2009, then Nintendo president and Satoru Iwata correctly stated that it would take "20 years or so" for digital distribution to render physical copies in stores obsolete. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Quote of the day This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into
the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here . He dismissed notions that it could happen sooner as "radical" and argued that it would
take a significant number of years for consumer behaviour to change.

His belief has been proven correct by empirical data as Nintendo's latest financial report revealed that the proportion of digital sales have just surpassed physical ones for the first time in the company's 137 year history. You may like Ex-PlayStation boss calls Sony's plan to kill physical disc production 'fairly dramatic' and remembers a time when 'digital sales were zero percent because we didn't have a digital market' In a huge blow to game ownership, PlayStation confirms end of physical games mere days after GTA
6's disc-less pre-orders The end of physical game copies is coming, and retailers are not happy

While it seems safe assume that Sony's next console will not feature disc reader, and credible reports suggest Microsoft -owned competitor Xbox headed the same way, Nintendo is ironically the last major industry player that
seems fully committed to physical releases at least for the time being. Part of a wider trend Digital game sales are even more dominant on other
platforms, hence the Sony decision to ditch physical formats entirely. Are
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According to data from market research firm Ampere Analysis , when the PlayStation 4 originally launched in 2013 just 13% of games sold for Sony platforms were digital.

12 years later in 2025, and the share of digital game sales had steadily
grown to almost 80%. Unless plans change, this will presumably be 100% come 2028 almost exactly two decades since Iwata's 20 year prediction.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/quote-of-the-day-by-former-nintendo-president-sa toru-iawata-it-will-require-many-years-and-months-for-the-majority-of-video-ga me-purchases-to-become-digital-correctly-predicting-dominance-of-digital-games -today-back-in-2009


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