Ace Attorney 5 is Download only to get it released quicker

The AA Courtroom has been destroyed

But Capcom have stated that the reason for this was to reduce the gap between the Japanese release and the English language release, which has been a common complaint from fans of the series as quoted to Kotaku:

“Historically it’s been tough to attract long term retail support for Ace Attorney titles. With the release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies we wanted as many people as possible to be able to enjoy the game for as long as possible. With that in mind we have opted for a digital only release via the Nintendo 3DS eShop.”

This issue was one of the possible factors why Ace Attorney: Investigations 2 never made it outside Japan, as sales of the original Investigations spinoff did not meet targets.

Although they said a physical retail release is not completely out of the question, as Capcom may consider it if the demand from the fans is enough to justify a physical release.

Original Kotaku article where the quote came from: Kotaku Article