Nintendo is changing its pricing system for Nintendo Switch 2 games.
Nintendo announced this week that it is officially changing up Nintendo Switch 2 game pricing for its first-party games. In a post on its website, the company announced that it will begin charging different prices for digital and physical copies of Nintendo Switch 2 games, with the digital copies being lowered to a cheaper price point.
The change will come into effect starting with the release of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which launches on 21 May, 2026.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Release date: 21 May, 2026
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
Developer: Nintendo
Is Nintendo lowering Nintendo Switch 2 game prices?
This week, Nintendo opened up pre-orders for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book–but an accompanying announcement from the company quickly dominated the news cycle instead. The company announced that, beginning with pre-orders for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, first-party Nintendo Switch 2 games will have different MSRPs (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices) for digital and physical editions.
Initial reactions to the announcement saw many voice out concerns that Nintendo was secretly making Nintendo Switch 2 games more expensive, but the company clarified with IGN that this was not true. The company said:
"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 U.S., 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."
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will be the first game to see this change moving forward, with the game’s digital price being US$59.99. Physical editions of the game will be sold for US$69.99, meaning that the game will cost US$10 more for physical edition owners. In its original announcement, the company said the 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.”
Seeing as the change only affects upcoming Nintendo-published games, it looks like older Nintendo Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World will continue to be sold for US$79.99 for all editions, and will not be priced down. However, players will likely be able to save some cash for future Nintendo-published games like Pokémon Winds and Waves if they purchase a digital copy.
