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Nintendo has announced that digital versions of its Nintendo Switch 2 games will carry a lower price tag than their physical counterparts which is a first for Nintendo-published titles. The change takes effect in May 2026, starting with the release of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.
Pre-orders for the game confirm the price gap: the digital version will be $59.99, while the physical copy will run $69.99 which is a $10 difference. Nintendo says this gap exists because physical copies come with additional costs for production and distribution that digital versions simply don’t have. The gameplay itself, Nintendo notes, is exactly the same regardless of which format you buy.
In a statement shared with IGN, Nintendo 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.”
It’s worth noting that Nintendo already uses what it calls “variable pricing” for Switch 2 software, meaning not all games cost the same. Donkey Kong Bananza, for example, is $69.99 in both digital and physical formats, while Mario Kart World sits at $79.99 across both. So Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is actually one of the more affordable titles on that list and now comes with a digital discount on top of that.
This pricing split isn’t entirely new to Switch 2 as a whole. In the UK, physical Switch 2 games like Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World have already been priced around £8 higher than digital versions. The US policy announced for May brings that same approach stateside for new Nintendo-published titles. Nintendo also reminded buyers that retailers set their own prices, so the final cost at any given store may differ from the official MSRP.
