Nintendo Is Discontinuing Gold Points, One Of The Switch's Best Incentives

3 days ago 75

Noooo, don't do it!

Nintendo has announced that it is discontinuing the My Nintendo Gold Points program, stating that it will no longer be possible to earn points from 24th March 2025 (or 25th March depending on your region). Platinum points, however, will remain unchanged.

Gold points were rewarded through the purchase of both digital and physical Switch games, allowing you to apply them to future digital purchases for a reasonable discount. Even at just 5% of the purchase price (with the odd additional promotion here and there), it was frankly one of the best incentives on the system and a great way to save a bit of extra cash for those upcoming big first-party releases.

Nintendo has stated that there are a couple of scenarios in which you will still be able to earn points after the cut-off date. The first is if you happen to pre-order a digital game prior to 24th March. Even if the payment is made after this date, you will still earn the relevant points.

The second is if you purchase an eligible physical Switch game after the cut-off date, so long as the purchase is made within the first 12 months of the game's initial release (and that release is before 24th March, of course).

Nintendo has also clarified that Gold Points will be redeemable for a maximum of 12 months after you have earned them, even if this extends well beyond 24th March. It's not currently known, however, if this will be applicable to purchases made on the upcoming Switch 2.

Speaking of which, we're somewhat confident that Nintendo will likely replace the Gold Points program with something similar when the Switch 2 has found its footing. The company will no doubt want that extra 5% during the initial rush for the new console, but we wouldn't be surprised if a new scheme is detailed at some point in 2025 or 2026.

For now, however, this kinda sucks. The Gold Points program was genuinely great, and we used it frequently to get a cheeky little discount on our digital purchases. Now we're sad.