Update: A spokesperson for Electronic Arts has reached out to us and said: "We have not stopped physical distribution of our games in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and players will continue to be able to buy our games from retailers across the region. Recent reports stating otherwise are an inaccurate reflection of disclosures made in EA Germany's statutory financial statements."
Original story: EA Germany has announced an "economic restructuring" in its annual report.
The report (thanks, ResetEra) stated that in German-speaking countries, EA will "no longer generate sales with packaged goods". As EA's Cologne office is also responsible for Austria, Switzerland, and Scandinavia, these regions could also be impacted by the changes .
The decision comes due to digital revenue being processed through affiliates and not EA itself. However, the publisher is predicting a massive decline in sales during the 2022/2023 period due to this move.
This could be bad news for players, not only as digital copies of games do not have the same tangible ownership as physical ones, but also because they do not have the resale potential and gradual price decline that attracts many players post-release.