[Update]: Nintendo Published Games Will Have Different Physical And Digital Prices In US From May 2026

Nintendo has announced that they will start pricing their physical and digital games differently.

This new pricing structure will begin from May 2026, with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book being the first game to have this difference. Over on the US eshop, you can see that the upcoming title is priced at $59.99 for the digital release, and $69.99 for the physical, implying that there will be a difference of roughly $10 USD as a standard. Nintendo notes in the announcement that individual retailers are still free to set their own prices.

On one hand, this change is a long time coming for players who have always believed that digital games should be less expensive than physical releases, as they do not incur the cost of producing the physical game cart. Others are concerned with the future of physical releases, seeing this as another sign of Nintendo trying to push more customers to go digital and phase out physical releases altogether.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

[UPDATE]: In a statement released to IGN, Nintendo clarified that this does not mean that physical games are receiving a price increase, as well as imply that the change only applies to the US for now.

“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.”