What double standards. All these complaints about Mario Kart World, and now here with Madden I see none.

It can be two things, these video game prices are normalized or no one cares about this case because it is EA.
Which one is it?

If they shipped it on a cart they probably would have charged €80 for digital and €90 for Physical like MKW. €80/$70 is just standard modern game pricing. It's if they jump to €90 for physical or $80 in the US like MKW that will be something to note. This €80 price is just business as usual this generation.

For Third Party so far:

Cyberpunk: Cartridge

Hitman: Game Key
Streetfighter: Game Key
Bravely Default: Game Key
Yakuza 0: Game Key
Sonic Generations: Game Key
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2: Game Key
Raidou: Game Key
Wild Hearts: Game Key
Daemon x Machina: Game Key
Madden 26: Game Key
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess: Game Key
Survival Kids: Game Key
Nobunaga's Ambition: Game Key
Shine Post Be Your Idol: Game Key
Suikoden HD: Game Key

AFAIK that's all the titles we know about. 15/16 3rd party titles are not on cartridge. It happened on Switch 1 but not to this extent. Switch 2 cartridge prices must be high for third party to be avoiding them to this extent, and could explain why Nintendo is charging higher for physical than digital in EU.

Not good for storage space though if even if you buy boxed you're gonna have to download all the data onto the internal.

Wait, is that just for certain regions? I’ve been spending a lot of time on Walmart, Best Buy, and Target over the last 48 hours and there are a handful of third-party Switch 2 games that aren’t advertised as game keys: Cyberpunk (which you mentioned), Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, Daemon X Machina, and No Sleep for Kaname.

It's possible there are differences region to region, might be wrongly using box art without the disclaimer too, Amazon US uses box art for No Sleep without the key card disclaimer, but in the title it says it's a key card.. My info is from this article: Looks like most Switch 2 third-party physical releases don't have the game on the card | Eurogamer.net

Checked the games you mention in the UK and Daemon X Machina, Story of Seasons and Rune Factory all seem to be on cartridge, but No Sleep is key-card on amazon UK.

It's possible there are differences region to region, might be wrongly using box art without the disclaimer too, Amazon US uses box art for No Sleep without the key card disclaimer, but in the title it says it's a key card. My info is from this article: Looks like most Switch 2 third-party physical releases don't have the game on the card | Eurogamer.net

Checked the games you mention in the UK and Daemon X Machina, Story of Seasons and Rune Factory all seem to be on cartridge, but No Sleep is key-card on amazon UK.

If they shipped it on a cart they probably would have charged €80 for digital and €90 for Physical like MKW. €80/$70 is just standard modern game pricing. It's if they jump to €90 for physical or $80 in the US like MKW that will be something to note. This €80 price is just business as usual this generation.

These prices have been normal since years. PS5 games commonly cost €80 at launch. Sports games have commonly multiple SKUs at launch and €110 isn't even that obscene when the NBA 2k series had already €140 editions. Donkey Kong Bananza costing €80 for the physical version merely means that it costs as much as a PS5 game.

The point that people miss about Mario Kart World is a deliberate FOMO effect on Nintendo's part. A hardware bundle with MKW that isn't only labeled as being in production for only a limited time, but also provides the game for only $50/€40 as opposed to $80/€80; that's without a doubt a great deal for Switch 2's first must-have title.

oof. $80 for a yearly sports game. yikes. It's bad enough for MKW, but for an annual game that's even crazier. I wonder how many people will buy this crap at launch vs how many will wait a few months or a year until the next game comes out and get the last game at under half the price. And costing these crazy prices when it's only a game key card?! I don't even get what the point of those is, especially if they are charging $10 extra for it, you're still just downloading the game, but paying more, and have to use the card to play the game? Video game industry is getting pretty nuts these days. Only way to fix this is if enough consumers say screw this and refuse to buy.

I'm firmly in a 'wait-and-see' mode for next gen, waiting to see if prices fall or if people are dumb enough to buy this stuff up to prevent discounts from being needed.

What double standards. All these complaints about Mario Kart World, and now here with Madden I see none.

It can be two things, these video game prices are normalized or no one cares about this case because it is EA.
Which one is it?

1) its American football so only Americans will care about it.
2) last year, madden 24 was 69.99$. This year, its 80$..... what changed? Nintendo announced 80$ is the new normal. EA copies.

It's still $70. Madden pricing hasn't changed. Madden is cheaper than Mario Kart in the USA and in Europe the physical copy of Madden is cheaper than Mario Kart. That's why no one is complaining, cause Madden is the same price it has been for the last 5 years lol. It hasn't joined the $80 or 90 Euro physical train yet.