New sales data for Marvel's Wolverine shows that physical game sales remain significant in Europe, casting doubt on Sony's plan to stop producing discs after 2027. According to figures from Ampere Analysis, reported by The Game Business, 35% of the game's worldwide sales were boxed versions, with the share rising to 51% in Europe.
Regional differences in physical purchases
GSD data reveals a split between nations, with more than two-thirds of sales in France being physical, while two-thirds of sales in the UK were digital. The UK market is noted as more similar to the US than to continental Europe.
Ampere reports that Wolverine was the second best-selling PlayStation 5 game of September worldwide, with 2.16 million copies sold, trailing EA Sports FC 27, which sold 4.96 million copies.
Sony's boxed alternative
Sony has shown no signs of reversing its decision, but these statistics may raise concerns within the company, especially with upcoming releases like Until Dawn 2 and God Of War Laufey. However, Sony plans to continue releasing boxed versions of games that contain download codes instead of discs, so the company might interpret the data as reflecting retail purchases rather than disc preference.
In the US, Circana's Mat Piscatella reports that spending on new physical software increased by 5% over 2026 to $738 million (£557 million), driven by a 631% increase in Game-Key Card releases, which offset a 3% drop in other physical media. Piscatella explained that last year there were 10 Game-Key Card titles, while this year 54 more have been published, marking the first growth in new physical software sales in over a decade.
Game-Key Cards and market trends
Game-Key Cards, which are used on Nintendo Switch 2, can be shared and resold, unlike download codes in a box, making them more consumer-friendly. However, they rely on digital storefronts remaining open since they do not store full game data.
In August, total US video game spending fell 9% year-on-year to $4.3 billion (£3.2 billion), with an 18% decline in mobile spending, a 7% dip in console content, and a 13% rise in PC content. Hardware spending fell 3% in August, with year-to-date spending 11% behind 2025. PlayStation unit sales dropped 11% in August, marking the lowest total for the month since 2013, while Xbox Series X/S sales fell 31% to their lowest August since 2020, and Nintendo hardware sales dropped 15%.
On the software side, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls debuted at number three on the August chart, behind NBA 2K27 and Madden NFL 27, although no specific sales figures were provided. Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve surpassed one million copies worldwide following its launch, becoming the fastest-selling title in the series.
