Ever since the Switch arrived on the scene, a number of publishers have been releasing physical games with a code inside the box and not much else. If you're in it just for the case, that's fine, but it also means an internet connection is still required and when servers eventually go offline, there's no way to download the game.
Despite multiple publishers receiving scathing criticism for this practice, the trend seemingly continues. According to the UK online retailer ShopTo, the cover of the upcoming European physical release Goosebumps The Game displays a 'Download Code Only' warning. Squint and you might be able to see it below, else view the website directly.
One of the higher-profile titles that was scheduled to receive this same treatment was Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds. Fortunately, when the game was delayed in February, the publisher Private Division changed its mind and said it would be releasing the physical version on a game cartridge.
ShopTo says the hard copy of Goosebumps The Game is due out next month on 10th April. The digital release is already available on the Switch eShop.
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[source gonintendo.com]
Comments (17)
Buying a box with a download code in it still sounds like an April Fool's day prank.
Why not just buy it from the eshop?
Meh, it's just another eShop shovelware title anyways. I wouldn't buy this even if an actual cartridge version exist. Oh wait one does exist and nobody bought it.
Wait...what?
This Switch version came out in North America a good while ago with cart intact.
I saw the recent movie sequel and it sucked! Never was a goosebumps fan anyway.
What a stinkin' rip-off. The game is only a few hundred MBs anyway (if that), so the cartridge should cost next to nothing to produce.
What a scam.
The only reason to buy these code only physical games is if you’re planning on getting the game anyway and you need a replacement case for another physical game that got damaged somehow
This practice looked ridiculous enough before the pandemic, but now people will be going to houses to deliver packages, that will be handled by the occupants, for literally no logical reason. Madness.
You mean another digital only release.
Codes are not physical. You download the game from the eShop. Whether you get access to the download using money or a code is irrelevant.
I bet all 10 people who were actually going to buy that are disappointed.
Are you afraid of the dark is a hell of lot better
Wouldn't it make more sense to just sell the card without the case. It would cut down on packaging and shipping, while giving those who want a physical copy the card they want.
Thomas had never seen such bullschmitt before
This seems like a waste of plastic.
This situation only exists because some stubborn people are still not making the necessary switch to full digital.
Physical releases are so 90's. Get over it!
A Goosebumps game could be great if it was simply playing through several of the classic books in the adventure format, with an art-style that resembles the eerie, glossy, evil atmosphere of the classic covers.
Instead, they keep doing these goofy mash-up things, just like the movies, which frankly didn't capture the spirit of the books, or even the lighter TV show, imo.
The Goosebumps books were some of the most fun, exciting reading experiences back in the day, couldn't wait to get the new book in our hands and were always looking forward to what the next entry in the series would soon bring.
R.L. Stine managed to bring the experience of regular comic book reading and hype to young-adult novels/novellas and he did it with the horror-anthology genre, which hadn't even been popular in comics for decades at that point.
The North American release offers a cartridge for the game. But the game isn't very good anyhow. Non-collectors won't be missing much.
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