Nick Arran, managing director of UK retailer GAME, has stated that digital games being cheaper than physical on the Switch 2 will be "a challenge".
As reported by The Game Business, Arran commented on the cost of the Switch 2 console and games, stating that although the £75 price point for Mario Kart World "seems expensive", he believes it's necessary to cover the rising costs of production and publishing.
However, he's not too keen on the idea of digital games being cheaper than physical games, stating that it's "a tough message for a customer" and that it will be "a bit of a challenge for us as a retailer".
"It’s a challenge. Nintendo is predominantly physical, and it’s proud to be physical. To make the move before PlayStation and Xbox that digital games will be cheaper than physical, it’s a bold move and it will be a bit of a challenge for us as a retailer.
“And it’s a tough message for a customer when there are differences in prices if they prefer physical. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. It is not going to stop us in terms of the support we’re going to give Switch 2 and Nintendo. And hopefully it won’t have too much of an effect on physical sales.
"As a retailer, physical is obviously important to me. But I am also a strong believer that gaming is an important media that needs to have physical. If you’re spending £75/£70 on a product, it’s the tangible value that can sit on the shelf and be in your collection. Hopefully this strategy doesn’t impact that.”
It does make sense for digital games to be cheaper than digital considering you're not actually getting anything tangible to display on your shelves, as Arran mentioned above. But given the popularity of physical games amongst Nintendo fans, it's nevertheless going to be a tough pill to swallow.
To further muddy the waters, it's been confirmed that some physical games will merely act as a "key" of sorts, requiring a download from the Switch eShop despite owners gaining a cartridge.