Key Notes
- Strauss Zelnick expects physical games to survive as a small market comparable to vinyl records.
- Digital channels generated 98% of Take-Two’s quarterly bookings, a company-wide measure that also includes its mobile business.
- A boxed edition does not necessarily contain game data, as Nintendo’s Switch 2 game-key cards demonstrate.
Physical games still have a future, according to Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick. He expects that future to look much like vinyl records: a small, enduring market alongside a business dominated by digital distribution.
Speaking to The Game Business, Zelnick pushed back on the idea that Take-Two was necessarily finished with optical media. His answer offers collectors some encouragement, although it does not commit the publisher to disc editions of particular games.
“Will there always be some physical business? Yes, in the same way that there’s still a vinyl business in recorded music,” he said.
Zelnick recalled predicting more than a decade ago that digital distribution would account for well over 90% of the business. He now expects physical sales to retain only a small share.
Take-Two’s Digital Share Needs Some Context
The publisher’s latest financial results show how far that transition has already gone. During July–September 2026, digital channels generated $1.563 billion in net bookings, or 98% of the total. The category covering physical retail and other business contributed $38.4 million, or 2%.
Revenue uses a different accounting measure. Digital channels supplied $1.459 billion, or 97% of quarterly revenue, while physical retail and other business brought in $38.2 million, or 3%. That latter category generated $80.7 million a year earlier.
These are company-wide financial splits, not counts of players choosing downloads over discs. Take-Two owns mobile publisher Zynga alongside Rockstar and 2K, and mobile games contributed $731.1 million in quarterly revenue. Ongoing spending, including virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases and advertising, accounted for 81% of revenue.
We reported on the broader results as Take-Two prepared for GTA VI. Its digital percentage describes a business extending well beyond purchases of new console games.
A Physical Box Can Still Mean a Download
For collectors, another question is what a physical edition actually contains. Nintendo’s Switch 2 game-key cards demonstrate why a product sold in a box is not necessarily a game stored on a cartridge.
Nintendo explains that these cards require the game’s data to be downloaded before play. Players need an internet connection for the initial setup and enough system or microSD Express storage. The card must then remain inserted to launch the downloaded game.
It can also be used on another Switch 2 after completing the download there. Nintendo says subsequent launches do not require an internet connection, although that does not remove any online requirements belonging to the game itself.
We previously covered Nintendo’s position on continuing physical releases and the differences between its card formats. Buyers looking for a copy they can install without downloading the game should check the packaging and installation requirements of the specific edition.
