Physical releases on the rise in the US

Around 300 games made it to shelves in the US this year, indicating a slight increase in physical sales compared to last year. According to GamesIndustry.biz, from January to November of 2016, 296 games launched at retail in boxes, with an estimated seven titles releasing to shelves this month, putting the total at just over 300.

The sales from the 296 games from January to November generated over $3.53 billion US dollars, and whilst this is a decrease in profits from last year, there were actually more boxed games on shelves this year. The chart given shows that physical releases have been on a sharp decline since 2012, which retailed 599 boxed games, but this year the number has gone up, from last year's 290 to this years 296.

This isn't a major increase, and doesn't mean that boxed games are back to what they used to be, but it does show that the market for boxed games is evening out. The slight increase can be attributed to games that would normally be a digital-only release, getting ports for boxed copies. An example of a game getting such treatment would be games like Among the Sleep.

What do you think this slight rise in boxed copies indicates? Is it just a one-off year, and boxed copies are dying out, or will there always be a market?