Nintendo has announced major changes to its loyalty programs ahead of the formal announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2. In a surprise, it’s set to end its Gold Points program, which allowed players to claim Gold Points for physical and digital game purchases. These points could be traded in for digital currency, which would then make a player’s next game purchases slightly cheaper.
While the system would only give a few extra cents or dollars, it was a neat reward for player loyalty, and encouraged further purchases with accumulated Gold Points. At this stage, a replacement program has not been announced, and it doesn’t appear the Nintendo Switch 2 will adopt a similar system.
Per Nintendo, the ability to earn Gold Points will end on 25 March 2025. From this date, players will no longer be able to claim these rewards for purchased games, although any points already earned will remain on a player’s account until they expire (which is typically 12 months after they’re claimed). As an added caveat, any preorders already placed will also still earn Gold Points.
“We sincerely thank you for using the My Nintendo rewards programme, and apologise for any inconvenience,” Nintendo said of the move. Swiftly following this, Nintendo also confirmed new details about its Game Voucher system.
Read: Everything we know about the Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Game Vouchers aren’t redeemable for Switch 2 games
As announced, Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers won’t be redeemable for Nintendo Switch 2 games, and it’s unclear if there will be a new Voucher system put into place for the upcoming console.
A new update on the Game Voucher page on the Nintendo website has added: “[The Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers] cannot be redeemed for games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2.”
There’s certainly a lot of sense in this clarification, given the Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers are priced according to current Nintendo Switch game prices, and it’s highly likely Nintendo Switch 2 games will be slightly more expensive, to account for inflation and the rising cost of game development.
It’s also worth noting the voucher system was introduced a few years into the Nintendo Switch’s life cycle, as a means to encourage players to purchase new games. Should the system be re-introduced, we expect it will be well after the Nintendo Switch 2 launches, if at all.
For now, these are all the changes announced by Nintendo, but we do expect to hear more updates as we get closer to the official announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2.
