Walmart has made it pretty clear that they have a new strategy in mind for increasing sales of physical game copies. That strategy turns out to be selling games at a $10 discount, even on the first day of their release. This isn’t just for games that aren’t being anticipated either; the popular Fire Emblem: Three Houses received this treatment, being sold at approximately $50 instead of $60 if you bought a physical copy of it at Walmart. Now, the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch exclusive, Astral Chain, is getting the same discount even though it just launched.
Astral Chain, directed by Takahisa Taura of Nier: Automata renown, is a chaotic action game with a unique combat system and more than enough of the flair we have come to expect from a Platinum game. As a rookie officer, you’ll be in charge of defending a city from interdimensional creatures known as Chimeras. At your disposal will be living weapons dubbed Legions, and together you’ll unleash stylish and impressive combos against your enemies.
A review from Gamespot gave the game great praise; game critic Michael Higham said, “Astral Chain’s shortcomings don’t overshadow what it does best. It’s an incredible execution of a fresh take on Platinum Games’ foundation, standing among the stylish-action greats.”
If you have any Nintendo Switch vouchers left, Astral Chain is available for the program. You can’t buy vouchers any longer, but if you do have any remaining, you can redeem them for Astral Chain. But if you don’t have any such vouchers, Walmart’s $10 off deal is probably the best you’re going to get. However, you should keep in mind that this deal is available in stores only: like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, you’ll see the game listed at $60 if you try to buy it online at Walmart. It’s possible that it could be extended to the website later, but as things stand right now, you have to actually go to a brick and mortar store and pick up the physical copy yourself.
Considering that many popular and hotly anticipated games, including this one, Mortal Kombat 11, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, have all received this $10 off treatment, one could be forgiven for wondering is this is going to become the norm. With physical games going the way of the Dodo, will discounts like these be enough to save them from inevitable extinction? Maybe not, but until the day everything is made digital, gamers will apparently enjoy lower prices on many new games, so long as they buy physical copies of them.
