Why is the same game but Switch game price more expensive on PC?

How much more expensive are Switch games on Steam?

A study has shown that Switch game prices are on average 10% higher than the Steam version.

After a bit of difficulty at first in garnering support from third-party developers, the Switch game library now has a large number of ports of blockbuster and indie games from different brands. other background. However, a few Switch players have found that these ports often cost more than the originals.

The editors on the Switcher blog (a blog specializing in Switch) decide how much to try to calculate the “tax” of the ports on the Switch. Their analysis of 471 games sold on both Steam and Switch has shown that on average, the Switch version will be 10% more expensive.

Of course, that’s just an average, and in reality the difference can be more or less, and in some cases, the Switch version is even cheaper. In fact, the majority of games are priced the same on both platforms (55.8%), and 8.9% of games have a cheaper Switch version.

However, the price difference of the remaining Switch ports can be quite large. For example, Payday 2 costs $50 on Switch compared to just $10 on Steam. Doom 2016 costs $60 on Switch, 3 times the price on Steam. In addition, regular Steam sales can also affect, for example De Blob costs $ 30 on Switch but on Steam only $ 6.59 (original price of the PC version before sale is $ 20).

Why is there this difference?

Part of that is also due to the longevity of the game on each platform. Currently, Doom costs $20 on Steam, but when it first launched in 2016 it cost $60. When the game was first released, the Switch version was also priced higher than it is now. Out of 51 games released at the same time on Switch and Steam, only one has a higher Switch price. Therefore, the price of games on the Switch may also decrease over time and balance with the PC version only.

Another important reason for the “Switch tax” is that Nintendo is adamant that the downloadable version of every Switch game should be priced at the same price as the retail version (if any) of that game. Switch tapes are more expensive to manufacture than optical discs, and that higher manufacturing cost affects the purchase price of a Switch game download.

The Switcher data attests to this. Games with tape cost an average of 17.8% more than the Steam version, while download-only games cost just 7.2% more. However, retail versions of Switch games are often discounted when the game is first released, although the price of the download version remains stable.

Paying a little extra for the Nintendo Switch version of your favorite PC game is certainly worth it when you can play the game anywhere, anytime and even on PC. However, if you consider the ports of mobile games, that is no longer true because mobile games can also be carried around as conveniently as the Switch. The Oceanhorn game costs up to $15 on Switch but costs just $7.99 on iOS. Shephy is a free game on iOS (with in-app purchases) while it costs $5 on Switch.