Nintendo confirms its US Switch 2 games will soon cost more as physical versions

Nintendo of America has announced that, beginning in May, it will introduce differing pricing for physical and digital versions of its Switch 2 games.

The policy will begin with the release of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, with pre-orders confirming that the platform game will retail for $10 more ($70) physically than digitally.

Nintendo introduced what it called “variable pricing” with its Switch 2 software, with some games costing more than others. For example, in the US, Donkey Kong Bananza retails for $69.99 physically and digitally, while Mario Kart World is $79.99 physically and digitally, so, by comparison, Yoshi offers a digital price cut.

However, in some regions, such as the UK, physical Nintendo games have already been more expensive for Switch 2. For example, Donkey Kong Banaza and Mario Kart World cost about £8 more as boxed games.

“Beginning in May 2026, and starting with preorders for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, new Nintendo published digital titles exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 will have an MSRP that is different from physical versions,” the company said.

“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.

“As always, retail partners set their own prices for physical and digital games, and pricing for each title may vary.”

The pricing change comes amid expectations from some industry analysts that Nintendo could raise the price of Switch 2 consoles this year, due to global manufacturing cost increases.

Both Sony and Microsoft raised the price of their game consoles last year, driven by the impact from tariffs, increased memory costs, and broader macroeconomic conditions.

“Nintendo chose to maintain its $449 entry price last year despite the introduction of tariffs impacting production in China, Japan and Vietnam,” said a report from consumer insight firm Niko Partners in January.

“More recently, increased demand for AI data centers has pushed RAM and storage prices up. While we do anticipate Nintendo to increase the price of the Switch 2, they may opt to discontinue the $449 SKU and only sell a $499 or higher bundle SKU instead.”

Speaking February, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said there were no plans to increase the price of Switch 2 due to the increasing cost of memory, at least at that time.