If you're in the UK and considering if you want to go digital or physical you will save £7.00 going digital (eShop) vs buying for normal MSRP for the physical version. It is also likely some retailers might drop the physical price like Smyths.
Here are the current prices we've found for certain Switch 2 games:
Game Digital Mario Kart World
GBP (£) Price £66.99
Game Physical Mario Kart World
GBP (£) Price £74.99
Game Digital Donkey Kong Bananza
GBP (£) Price £58.99
Game Physical Donkey Kong Bananza
GBP (£) Price £66.99
Comparing prices to Switch 1
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - £49.99 (digital and physical) / Mario Kart World £66.99 digital (so a £17.00 increase in price when buying through the eShop.)
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD - £49.99 (digitally and physically) / Donkey Kong Bananza £58.99 (a £9.00 increase in price when buying through the eShop)
Need more sources to check those prices for physical. They are incorrect in reporting - they got them listed already. This comes from just looking at BestBuy NA.
@Jester676 As mentioned in the Eurogamer article, they are comparing the official prices Nintendo has announced for these games in My Nintendo Store. BestBuy and other third party retailers may have already decided to give a price in dollars for those two games, but the US My Nintendo Store hasn't yet.
Personally, I think it's a good idea that digital games are cheaper than physical ones, and I feel the price difference should be even bigger. Nintendo's Switch 1 policy of having the same price for their games whether they're physical or digital is ridiculous, given that physical games obviously have extra added costs from manufacturing and transporting them, as well as the retailer share, so how can you justify the digital version having the same price even though it doesn't have these extra costs?
In practice, there's been no incentive to buy Nintendo-published Switch games digitally if the price is the same as for the physical game. Plus it's often easy to find used physical copies for cheaper than what the digital game costs. If Switch 2 games by Nintendo would have a significant price difference between physical and digital (maybe 20 euros instead of 10) I might consider buying them digitally. Just like I've done with third-party Switch 1 games, where the digital versions already are typically much cheaper than the physical ones.
Need more sources to check those prices for physical. They are incorrect in reporting - they got them listed already. This comes from just looking at BestBuy NA.
I checked my sources, this ONLY refers to the UK, US prices have been and seem to continue to be the same digitally and physically.
Nintendo Network ID: xboxfanuk
Twitter: @xboxfanUK
Switch Friend Code: SW-3726-7117-4602
In the past keeping digital and physical prices the same was logical - you wouldn’t want to disrupt the relationship with your physical retail partners.
Sadly in 2025 there are no longer any high street retailers of any scale selling new games so there’s not much to risk.
@StuTwo Even getting hold of a console is a lot harder unless you happen to live near somewhere like a Smyth’s which I don’t. I remember easily walking into Game putting down a £20 deposit for NX a week before the reveal. But now it’s a fight against scalpers and anyone else wanting to pre-order online through sites without knowing when or where the orders will be made available.
NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED! Regular opinion articles, retro game reviews and impression pieces on new games! ENGAGE VG: EngageVG.com
Buying anything gaming related is much harder now. It didn’t have to go that way but it has. Even buying high profile new games physically is no longer trivial and more niche games can be tricky to buy.
Honestly physical games have probably tipped over into being a niche pursuit for a minority.
Personally, I think it's a good idea that digital games are cheaper than physical ones, and I feel the price difference should be even bigger. Nintendo's Switch 1 policy of having the same price for their games whether they're physical or digital is ridiculous, given that physical games obviously have extra added costs from manufacturing and transporting them, as well as the retailer share, so how can you justify the digital version having the same price even though it doesn't have these extra costs?
In practice, there's been no incentive to buy Nintendo-published Switch games digitally if the price is the same as for the physical game. Plus it's often easy to find used physical copies for cheaper than what the digital game costs. If Switch 2 games by Nintendo would have a significant price difference between physical and digital (maybe 20 euros instead of 10) I might consider buying them digitally. Just like I've done with third-party Switch 1 games, where the digital versions already are typically much cheaper than the physical ones.
It does make sense for digital games to be cheaper, but I'd rather they put that in practice by lowering the price of digital rather than significantly increasing the price of physical (as well as digital to a lesser extent).
Thank you Nintendo for giving us Donkey Kong Jr Math on Nintendo Music
@StuTwo I don’t like this future where we have to rely entirely on digital storefronts to remain active to have access to our games or that physical media is more or less, with some exceptions, a disc or cartridge that has a download file on it. But again, the lack of easiness to just buy the hardware alone is enough to make me feel less inclined to bother at all.
NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED! Regular opinion articles, retro game reviews and impression pieces on new games! ENGAGE VG: EngageVG.com
@Dogorilla Agreed, I didn't mean to imply I'm happy with Nintendo's raise of their game prices. The Switch 1 standard of 60 - 70 euros for a physical game would be fine with me, with digital games being 20 euros cheaper.
The Problem with Digital/eShop games it's up to the Publisher to lower the price as opposed to Physical cart games that value changes with consumers not with the Publisher. They can keep a 69.99 digital for lifetime of the game but it's physical counterpart will drop in price. That's what some don't remember it's up to the publisher to decide to lower or drop the prices on Digital games.
@Jester676 The eShop has become allot better for sales now. While first party titles never drop to the floor like Ubisoft, this is healthy for the industry.
Retail still manages to keep Nintendo games higher priced. Heck Skylanders Imaginators which is NOT on the eShop is going for over £200 at CEX.
Nintendo Network ID: xboxfanuk
Twitter: @xboxfanUK
Switch Friend Code: SW-3726-7117-4602
Digital drop and cheaper but is tied to the Nintendo account purchases. "Key-Card" is tied to the card as that has the License on the card. And those prices vary on the consumer buying market to go down as the game ages. If you don't want the "Key-Card" you can resell and not worry about it. Also I will get a exSD just for "Key-Card" that I purchase so I don't waste valuable exSD for my other game updates/DLC on that.
Forums
Topic: UK digital prices are cheaper than physical - Eurogamer/Games Industry Biz
Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here, check out our guide: Nintendo Switch 2 Guide: Ultimate Resource.
Posts 1 to 17 of 17
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic