Capcom has said that the release of download-only PSP game Fate/Unlimited Codes later this year doesn’t mean the company intends to stop supporting the UMD format.

Yesterday the company revealed that it will digitally distribute Fate/Unlimited Codes, a fighting title based on a 2008 Japanese arcade and PlayStation 2 game of the same name, via the PlayStation Store only later this year, meaning it will bypass a physical release on UMD.

The news follows Sony Computer Entertainment America’s decision to release PSP rhythm game Patapon 2 as a download only, a move it described as “a one time test case as we continue to explore consumer preferences for digital content."

It also comes on the back of fresh rumours that Sony is working on a new UMD-free PSP, to be unveiled at E3 this June.

Capcom though, insists it is committed to the format, and told MCV that PSP is perhaps more important to the publisher than any other.

“We certainly do not intend to stop supporting UMD,” a Capcom spokesperson said. “Certainly for us PSP is very important – more so with Monster Hunter coming – than maybe any other publisher.”