It’s time to get physical with Owlboy. No wait, that’s not what we meant – it’s getting a retail release on Switch and PS4.
Everyone fell in love with Owlboy the first time they laid eyes on it. The intricate retro platformer set hearts all a flutter and when it finally released – after nine years of development – it was well worth the wait.
It launched first for Windows PC in November 2016, with a Mac and Linux version following in early 2017. Then the Nintendo Switch stormed the gates in March 2017, and the most frequent gaming question changed from “but can it run Crysis?” to “when will <insert game name> be available on Switch?”
Owlboy was, unsurprisingly, high on that list.
Now we’re only a few days out from Owlboy’s console release – the game hits PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on February 13th, 2018 – but people want more. They always do. They would very much like an Owlboy physical release, so it can adorn their shelves with pride.
And publisher Soedesco – yes, the lunatics with the potato – are more than happy to oblige, today announcing the Owlboy physical release date for both the PS4 and the Nintendo Switch.
“We’ve had to keep quiet about this for some time, but now I can finally announce our first physical Switch game! Owlboy is a really great title to start off our Switch line-up with, but we’ve certainly got more coming up.” – Hans van Brakel, executive manager, Soedesco
This is all lovely news of course, that the delightful Owlboy is getting a physical release on everybody’s favourite console (and the PS4, too) on May 29th, 2017.
But the elephant in the room is pricing. There appears to be a premium on physical releases for the Nintendo Switch – the cost of making the cartridges taste foul, maybe – which is sometimes as much as ten dollars more versus its digital counterpart (or other platforms).
We’ve reached out to Soedesco to ask about pricing for the Owlboy physical release, and we’ll let you know what they come back with.
Update – 23rd February, 2018
Owlboy physical pre-orders are now available on Amazon. We never heard back from Soedesco on the pricing, but the Nintendo Switch editions are priced at £24.99 / US$29.99 – which is roughly 32% higher than the UK digital store price of £18.99, and 20% higher than the US digital store price of US$24.99.
That’s another stinging endorsement for the Nintendo Switch cartridge tax, but if it makes you feel any better, PS4 players are paying the same price for their physical release this time around. So perhaps this is more of a collectable, limited run tax, than a Switch cartridge tax per se?
