Back in March, we covered Nintendo’s announcement that Switch 2 first-party digital games would carry a lower MSRP than physical starting in May 2026. Nintendo also noted that retail partners set their own physical prices, and it turns out at least two of them aren’t passing the upcharge along to customers.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book launches on May 21 with a $69.99 physical MSRP and $59.99 digital, but the physical preorder is $59.88 at both Amazon and Walmart. Splatoon Raiders, due July 23 at $59.99 physical and $49.99 digital, is sitting at $49.94 at Amazon and Walmart. In both cases, the discounted physical preorder is essentially the same as the digital MSRP.
For physical collectors, this is the best of both worlds. You get the cartridge in hand, you get to keep it on the shelf, and you’re paying essentially the same as you would on the eShop. Whether other retailers like Best Buy and Target follow suit, or whether Amazon and Walmart bump these prices closer to launch, is the open question. For now, going physical at these two stores doesn’t really cost anything extra.
