{"id":1848042,"date":"2026-03-26T11:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1848042"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:12:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:12:41","slug":"the-cost-of-physical-nintendo-games-is-not-going-up-but-we-are-going-to-start-paying-less-for-digital-versions-of-its-first-party-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1848042","title":{"rendered":"The cost of physical Nintendo games is not going up, but we are going to start paying less for digital versions of its first-party titles"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Yoshi and the Mysterious Book<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">The cost of physical Nintendo games is not going up, but we are going to start paying less for digital versions of its first-party titles<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Poor wording.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/YoshiAndTheMysteriousBook_scrn_05.png?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Yoshi and the Mysterious Book - unknown page\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"YoshiAndTheMysteriousBook_scrn_05.png\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-26T11:12:41+00:00\">March 26, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/nintendo-first-party-games-digital-versions-will-be-cheaper-than-physical-moving-forward?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          12 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"77aea594-bbe3-4132-8c09-e72a66e78c66\" data-name=\"Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\" title=\"Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book\"><br \/>\n  Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Sometimes, you get a good reminder that Nintendo is not infallible. Remember <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/switch-users-say-virtual-game-cards-are-a-downgrade-as-online-game-sharing-changes\">2025&#8217;s game sharing mess<\/a>, made worse by some poor comms from Nintendo&#8217;s corporate arm? It seems unclear official communication has struck again, and this time it&#8217;s in the form of the latest update to the first-party pricing model of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/platforms\/switch-2\">Switch 2<\/a> games.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, 25th March, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/nintendo-switch-2-physical-games-will-now-be-more-expensive-than-digital-versions-with-10-price-difference-for-yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">Nintendo announced<\/a> sweeping changes to its first-party published games moving forward: digital and physical copies will now sell at different prices. The company worded the release as if digital games would become <em>cheaper<\/em> because physical ones were going up (again), and immidiate reaction to the news was &#8211; expectedly &#8211; outraged.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Yoshi and the Mysterious Book - Official Trailer | Nintendo Direct\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/shPEsAIMvL8?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/shPEsAIMvL8\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Yoshi and the Mysterious Book &#8211; Official Trailer | Nintendo Direct<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=shPEsAIMvL8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>After some heated debate, an update (via statement sent to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/nintendo-switch-2-physical-games-will-now-be-more-expensive-than-digital-versions-with-10-price-difference-for-yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">IGN<\/a>) has cleared things up: &#8220;The cost of physical games is not going up. This means that when Nintendo sells digital versions of Nintendo published games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 to consumers in the US, those prices will have an MSRP that is lower than their physical counterparts. Retail partners set their own prices for physical and digital games, and pricing for each title may vary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, what&#8217;s actually happening is that digital versions of first-party games will be <em>cheaper<\/em> moving forward. Price tags may vary depending on the size or perceived &#8220;value&#8221; of the project, but the change is meant to reflect the extra expense of producing and distributing physical copies. As the adoption of the digital format continues to grow, many players will no doubt welcome the news &#8211; yet it&#8217;s another worrying sign the big companies are trying to move away from physical as fast as possible.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The first game affected by these changes (it seems Nintendo isn&#8217;t retroactively making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mario-kart-world\">Mario Kart World<\/a>&#8216;s digital version cheaper, for example) will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">Yoshi and the Mysterious Book<\/a>, which is currently set to launch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book-switch-2-gameplay-trailer-bubble-blowing\">on 21st May<\/a>. In the US, the game will sell for $59.99 digital and $69.99 physical.<\/p>\n<p>If you ask me, there wouldn&#8217;t have been any confusion if we knew the locked price for both versions before this new announcement, but at least we got there in the end.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Sometimes, you get a good reminder that Nintendo is not infallible. Remember <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/switch-users-say-virtual-game-cards-are-a-downgrade-as-online-game-sharing-changes\">2025&#8217;s game sharing mess<\/a>, made worse by some poor comms from Nintendo&#8217;s corporate arm? It seems unclear official communication has struck again, and this time it&#8217;s in the form of the latest update to the first-party pricing model of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/platforms\/switch-2\">Switch 2<\/a> games.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, 25th March, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/nintendo-switch-2-physical-games-will-now-be-more-expensive-than-digital-versions-with-10-price-difference-for-yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">Nintendo announced<\/a> sweeping changes to its first-party published games moving forward: digital and physical copies will now sell at different prices. The company worded the release as if digital games would become <em>cheaper<\/em> because physical ones were going up (again), and immidiate reaction to the news was &#8211; expectedly &#8211; outraged.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Yoshi and the Mysterious Book - Official Trailer | Nintendo Direct\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/shPEsAIMvL8?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/shPEsAIMvL8\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Yoshi and the Mysterious Book &#8211; Official Trailer | Nintendo Direct<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=shPEsAIMvL8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>After some heated debate, an update (via statement sent to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/nintendo-switch-2-physical-games-will-now-be-more-expensive-than-digital-versions-with-10-price-difference-for-yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">IGN<\/a>) has cleared things up: &#8220;The cost of physical games is not going up. This means that when Nintendo sells digital versions of Nintendo published games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 to consumers in the US, those prices will have an MSRP that is lower than their physical counterparts. Retail partners set their own prices for physical and digital games, and pricing for each title may vary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, what&#8217;s actually happening is that digital versions of first-party games will be <em>cheaper<\/em> moving forward. Price tags may vary depending on the size or perceived &#8220;value&#8221; of the project, but the change is meant to reflect the extra expense of producing and distributing physical copies. As the adoption of the digital format continues to grow, many players will no doubt welcome the news &#8211; yet it&#8217;s another worrying sign the big companies are trying to move away from physical as fast as possible.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The first game affected by these changes (it seems Nintendo isn&#8217;t retroactively making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mario-kart-world\">Mario Kart World<\/a>&#8216;s digital version cheaper, for example) will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book\">Yoshi and the Mysterious Book<\/a>, which is currently set to launch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book-switch-2-gameplay-trailer-bubble-blowing\">on 21st May<\/a>. In the US, the game will sell for $59.99 digital and $69.99 physical.<\/p>\n<p>If you ask me, there wouldn&#8217;t have been any confusion if we knew the locked price for both versions before this new announcement, but at least we got there in the end.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Yoshi and the Mysterious Book The cost of physical Nintendo games is not going up, but we are going to start paying less for digital versions of its first-party titles Poor wording. Image credit: Nintendo News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on March 26, 2026 12 comments Follow Yoshi and the Mysterious Book [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1848042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1848042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1848042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1848042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1848042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}