In 2018, Nintendo introduced a system of Gold Points, which you earned by purchasing Switch games on physical cartridges or digitally from the Nintendo eShop. Although you needed to make a lot of purchases to get something substantial, you still saved a few dollars, regardless of whether you bought a cheaper game or a more expensive one. Unfortunately, Nintendo has announced that you won’t be able to earn gold points after 9:30 p.m. PDT on March 24 if you buy digital copies of games.
All eShop purchases made after that time will no longer earn gold points, although pre-orders for content made before then will still earn gold points if the pre-order is placed before the expiration date. Points will be awarded within a day of each processed transaction.
With physical releases, things are a little more complicated. If you purchase a game released on or before March 24, you will continue to earn Gold Points even after that date, but only for games purchased within a year of their release. Of course, physical versions of games released after March 24, 2025 will not earn any Gold Points. It’s also worth noting that Nintendo awards significantly fewer gold points for physical purchases.
Most people probably don’t know, but you can earn gold points by purchasing items at the Nintendo Store in New York City. This will be the case until March 24, and after that, the rules for physical releases mentioned above will apply.
Nintendo’s decision to terminate the Gold Points loyalty program may be related to the upcoming announcement and release of Switch 2. It is not known whether Nintendo will have a new loyalty program, but we will probably find out after the Nintendo Direct on April 2, where we will finally learn more details about the long-awaited console.
