Nintendo Nintendo To Change Pricing For Digital & Physical Switch 2 Exclusives, Starting With Yoshi

intendo of America has just announced that first-party Switch 2 exclusives on the eShop will be getting a different MSRP (that's manufacturer's suggested retail price) compared to physical releases.

What that means is that, going forward, it's very likely that digital games will be cheaper that physical games in the US on Switch 2. Nintendo is kicking this off with the upcoming Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which will cost $59.99 digitally and $69.99 physically, from the Nintendo Store.

Sharing the new on its support website, the company says that "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."

Now, this announcement was made by Nintendo of America and has also been shared by Nintendo of Canada on social media. But it's worth noting that this has been the standard for first-party Switch 2 games in the UK, Europe, and Japan since the console's release back in June 2025.

For example, in the UK, Mario Kart World is £66.99 on the eShop, while the physical MSRP is £74.99. The same can be said for Donkey Kong Bananza, which is £58.99 on the eShop and £66.99 on the My Nintendo Store.

So this is likely just the US getting in-line with the rest of the world. Certainly a bit of a surprise on a Tuesday afternoon, though.

Those concerned, we should highlight that Nintendo does state that retailers can set their own prices for physical and digital games. So prices will vary for every title, and some stores may sell cheaper than others. And this appears to only affect Switch 2 first-party games.

That's really dumb IMO. There's people who prefer to have physical games and making us pay more for them is ridiculous IMO. Just make them the same price.

Demon_Skeith said:

Hold up, you got to understand the process. Physical games would/should cost more due to physical materials, shipping and retail end handling. The fact that digital games is cheaper should have been like this from the start for all game makers!

I do hope Sony and MS are forced to follow, this is really great news.

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Sure it costs more money for the publishers, but those who prefer physical games shouldn't be punished for wanting a physical media instead of digital by having to pay more for the physical version. This is going to further help phase out physical media IMO and it's not a good thing. Games should be the same price upon release regardless if it's physical or digital unless it's a deluxe version with extra things, then that version should cost a little bit more. But that's my take on it.

This is unfortunate news for people who prefer new physical games over digital games, but don't want to pay more money for the physical version of a game which is already expensive for many buyers at the current prices without the price hikes.