Nintendo is reportedly preventing small developers from playing on the Switch eShop charts with very cheap deals, putting a cap on prices.
This information comes from SMG Studios via Reddit. In a brief reply message, it is highlighted as a sale of 99 cents in the game Death Squared it would be their “lowest price” ever on the Nintendo Switch, as the “new rules” in effect on the Switch eShop now apparently prevent developers from setting prices for games below $ 1.99 USD. This obviously excludes free-to-play titles.
“This is the lowest price ever. The new eShope rules mean that no game can go below $ 1.99 and it costs 99c because I planned this sale in August! Haha, so I won the system!”
Although Death Squared is no longer for sale, a quick look at the Switch eShop reveals that there are still a number of games available for less than $ 1.99 (99 cents, to be precise) – they include titles like Plague Road, HoPiKo, Knight Swap 2 and Ant-Gravity: Tiny’s Adventure.
Perhaps the developers of these titles also stalled sales long before the new rules took effect.
According to a story on Polygon, Nintendo recently discontinued games that cost a single penny to enter the “best selling” list on Switch eShop. Apparently, there is also a rule in place that prevents developers from offering 100% discounts if a user already has a game in their catalog. This information was shared by Simon Carless’s GameDiscoverCo newsletter.
If we hear any updates or developments, we will let you know.