Nintendo blocks Switch games from extreme eShop discounts



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While the Nintendo Switch is a great system, one of its biggest flaws has to be the eShop. In addition to being slow and difficult to navigate, some tabs – like the bestsellers or bargains pages – were often notoriously filled with questionable games of varying quality. These games only became visible because the developers figured out that if you price games for a pittance, you can manipulate the system and dominate the leaderboards regardless of the quality. After all, what do potential buyers have to lose when a game costs just a dime?

Well, things seem to be changing – and they’ve been for some time, according to a recent report in Simon Carless’s GameDiscoverCo newsletter. According to Carless, Nintendo had previously suspended the authorization of games that cost a penny from making the bestseller list. Indeed, when Polygon checked Thursday afternoon, only games costing at least $ 1.99 and more were listed in the bestsellers tab of the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Changes are also underway for the bargains tab, which is mostly populated with well-known games or discounted titles that also cost at least $ 1.99. Nintendo did not immediately provide a comment. Granted, $ 1.99 is still extremely cheap for a video game, but at least having a bar for what can qualify can help stop some shenanigans.

A workaround was apparently also in place to prohibit developers from providing 100% “discounts” to players who already owned a game from their catalog, the report notes. Given the continued commercial success of the Nintendo Switch, as well as the number of games released each week, it’s no wonder that game makers are looking for all the perks they can get.

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