Spaltoon 2 will be available in three different boxed versions. A traditional boxed version that includes a game card, a digital card option, and the new solution which will be a physical box with a code inside. All versions will have the same price-tag.
Soon, you'll be able to purchase a digital version of the game at your local brick and mortar retailer. Nintendo will be releasing three versions of Spaltoon 2 into the wild. Retailers all over Japan will see a traditional boxed version that includes a game card, a digital card option, and the new solution which will be a physical box with a code inside.
All three versions of the game will cost the same amount of money: £44.52. The code option is thought to be a perfect middle ground for the customers who like to own the physical box the game comes in, but also like to have the game itself stored on one device.
Nintendo
In this day and age, casual gamers will seldom look for a game online, and having physical copies at the retailers who already sell the consoles is a way of reaching a wider audience.
POSA (point-of-sale activation) cards are seen as a way of solving the problem of excess inventory if a title fails to meet its projected numbers. The POSA cards also come with a diminished risk on the retail end. You see, as things are right now, the retailer pays the publisher up front and then goes on to sell the copies to earn back and make some money.
As far as the POSA business model is concerned, the publisher only gets the money after a consumer buys the game from the retailer. This will, in theory, encourage more retailers to stock new IP from unknown developers.
Nintendo
The late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said back in 2013:
"A fairly large volume of "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" for Nintendo 3DS was sold in the form of a POSA card, which is activated only when it goes through POS registers at retailers and therefore the retailers do not have to shoulder the physical inventory risk. The growing sales of the POSA version of this game must have helped retailers see the business opportunity for video games with such a business structure."
Usually, POSA cards are lower margin products, but Nintendo hopes that this business model will soon find its footing. No word yet on whether or not the POSA card versions od Splatoon 2 will be available anywhere else except in Japan.
