RIME is a hugely anticipated puzzle adventure game due out later this year on the Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch- but there was a bit of a furore created a while back when publishers Grey Box had announced that the Switch version of the game will be costing $10 more digitally and at retail than the other versions of the game.
The price hike was seen to be unnecessary, and frustrated a lot of people who thought that the game, which ordinarily would be primed for success on a Nintendo system, would see its success stunted as a result of this decision.
Now, in a new blog post on the matter, Grey Box have revealed that the digital version of RIME will cost exactly the same as the game costs on other platforms. The physical version will retain its $10 price hike (because of cartridge manufacturing costs, it sounds like), but will come with a free code to the game’s OST.
“At Grey Box, we are determined to provide a fair deal for everyone around. And so we discussed how we could do that, without simply selling at a loss, all while also being fair to our retail partners. So, here’s what we’re doing,” they said in the blog post announcing the pricing change.
“First off, the digital version of RIME on Nintendo Switch will now cost $29.99 / €34.99 / £29.99, the same price as the game on other platforms. So, that’s straightforward enough. On the physical side, we can’t lower the price without selling at a loss, but we can add more value to the package. And that’s what we’re doing. For the Nintendo Switch version of RIME, all physical copies will include a printed code for a download of the complete, beautiful soundtrack by David García (a sample of which you can find here). You will be able to download the music via Bandcamp in one of the multiple high-quality formats. The soundtrack is planned on being sold separately for $10 in the US (and equivalent prices elsewhere), and so the value you’re going to get out of this will be the same as somebody who purchased a different version of RIME, and then bought the soundtrack.”
This is a sensible solution to the problem, and it should make Switch owners who were interested in the game happy. RIME launches on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on May 26, with the Switch release coming later in the Summer.
