Nintendo Switch 2 physical games to cost more than digital versions going forward

Prices of high-profile video games have been trending up for a few years now and have barely stopped going above $70. Nintendo jumped in on the $70 games ship in 2023 with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and has made it the norm since the launch of its Switch 2 hybrid console. Now, it has announced another shift to its pricing strategy for games, and this time it's going after the physical games crowd.

In a simple post on its website titled "About Nintendo Switch 2 Game Pricing," the US wing of the company revealed that new exclusive Switch 2 games will sport different pricing compared to their digital versions. This pricing change will be applied to all its new products starting this May.

However, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is already showing this updated pricing structure. The side-scrolling platformer's pre-order page has the digital edition listed for $59.99, while the physical version comes in at $69.99. There may be even bigger price discrepancies in the future, depending on the game in question.

"Nintendo games offer the same experiences whether in packaged or digital format, and this change simply reflects the different costs associated with producing and distributing each format and offers players more choice in how they can buy and play Nintendo games," said Nintendo of America in its announcement today. "As always, retail partners set their own prices for physical and digital games, and pricing for each title may vary."

While rumored to be coming this year, Nintendo has yet to give a price hike to the Switch 2. It still comes in at $450 while both Xbox and Sony have raised their consoles' pricing. The game pricing shift of Nintendo may be attempting to stave off a console price hike for longer.

At the same time, a report from yesterday revealed that Nintendo is cutting its Switch 2 production by a third as demand for the console has dropped below its expectations.