The publisher seems to think that a digital release will irremediably result in a huge drop in sales, since it can ease sharing and thus piracy to their eyes. They want to control the flux of money, hence why the keep the games at a high price, physical only, and don’t shy to adamantly strike any site that dare post dumps of "their" games. In that regard, since releasing digital equals no sales, it’s not surprising (although unfortunate) that they do what they do.