Nintendo games are notorious for almost never receiving a discount, so you’d think that the publisher’s new “Customer Appreciation Sale” would be embraced with open arms. And sure, it sounds great on paper: save 30% on some of your favorite Nintendo franchises! The reason behind the promotion, however, has fans raising eyebrows about Nintendo’s true motivations.

Nintendo didn’t just decide to celebrate its customers out of the blue. Nintendo sued the US government back in March 2026, arguing that the Trump administration’s tariffs were illegal. As restitution, Nintendo pushed for a prompt refund of duties paid since the policy went into effect. Nintendo also insisted on getting the money back with interest. Not long after filing that lawsuit, Nintendo itself was hit with a class action lawsuit where the plaintiffs argued that Nintendo owed customers refunds as well.

The plaintiffs of the more recent lawsuit believed that Nintendo had a duty to pass those savings on to consumers, especially after the company blamed its increased prices on said tariffs. In July, Nintendo tried to get the lawsuit dismissed by arguing that customers weren’t entitled to any kind of rebate due to legal developments. Customers who purchased Nintendo hardware since the tarriffs went into effect “received exactly what they bargained for,” a legal filing read.

Now, two months later, Nintendo says the sale “is made possible in part by tariff-related refunds.”

“While Nintendo absorbed most tariff-related costs, the refunds helped make promotions like this possible,” a press release states.

Image: Nintendo

The discount, which runs from Sept. 13 through Sept. 26, applies to digital games and select physical copies — and it’ll be available directly from Nintendo and through select retailers. Nintendo has not shared what games or Switch 2 accessories will be a part of the event. Yet even before the sale begins, some fans are expressing skepticism over its circumstances.

“Nintendo is going to keep the tariff refunds for themselves and you get to spend more money on Nintendo games as a reward,” one Nintendo fan complained on Reddit.

“I swore this was an Onion article,” another fan wrote on YouTube.

“This is just damage control,” another opined.

For some, the worry is that Nintendo will use the sale as a sneaky way of avoiding future lawsuit claims. If you purchase a game through the sale, it could theoretically be used as a tacit agreement that the company does not owe consumers rebates.

While some Nintendo fans are shaking their heads at the sale, others don’t see the big deal.

“At least it’s better than what Xbox & PlayStation are doing regarding the tariffs’ situation …… which is giving us practically nothing in return,” one YouTube commenter wrote.