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After much uproar and upset from the fans, the Rime Switch price has been adjusted (with certain caveats).

Developer Greybox and publisher Tequila Works upset folks with the multiplatform pricing strategy for the hotly anticipated Rime.

Not sure why it’s so anticipated? Check out Josh’s delightful preview.

Specifically, consumers weren’t altogether happy that the Rime Switch version was going to cost 30% more compared to other platforms. That’s rising from £29.99 to £39.99, with similar hikes in other regions. The team behind the game put this down to relatively high production costs for Nintendo’s newest consheld.

Now, I say “was” because that situation has changed somewhat, most certainly as a result of that negative feedback.

In a blog post on their website, Greybox confirmed that the Rime Switch price was coming down, and now finds itself on parity with other platforms – at least, when you purchase it digitally from the Nintendo eShop. That means it will now cost £29.99 / $39.99 US / €44.99, just like on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.

The physical Rime Switch release, however, is still going to set you back a tenner more. Greybox have again claimed that they “can’t lower the price without selling at a loss.” Quite why a Nintendo Switch cartridge – essentially a jumped up SD card with a bitter taste – costs more to produce than a disc is anybody’s guess. Maybe you’re paying for all that wasted plastic on the boxes; they make up almost 99% of the overall bundle, with the carts themselves taking up a mere one percent.

To try and make things right for this pricing disparity, Greybox will be including a free download of Rime’s soundtrack for all physical Switch purchasers, which will be sold for $10 US separately after release. That could be seen as a nice gesture – or a compulsory purchase Nintendo tax, depending on your point of view – but at least Greybox have addressed the elephant on the Mediterranean island.

Maybe the real solution is for Nintendo to do something about the apparently problematic Switch production costs for developers and publishers.

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