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UPDATE 04.12.20
The Cooking Mama: Cookstar website has the following explanation at the bottom of the page:
When we set up our eCommerce webpage a few days ago, we did not have everything ready for primetime. If you paid more than $39.99, plus $5.00 shipping, we have refunded you the difference. We apologize for our mistake.
Original Story
Cooking Mama: Cookstar has had one of the most embattled launches of any game in recent memory. Click here for a full refresher, but in brief, developer 1st Playable and publisher Planet Entertainment combined to release the software in the Nintendo eShop for a matter of hours before it was unceremoniously pulled from sale. Eventually (after a healthy stretch of inactivity) the Cooking Mama: Cookstar Twitter account sprang to life amidst rumors that the title had been yanked due to allegations of using Switch hardware to mine for cryptocurrency. Planet Entertainment and 1st Playable have avidly denied these allegations in the days since those Tweets went live.
Cookstar has since been placed for sale in physical version on the game’s official website. This was good news for those interested in playing Cookstar, but there’s a new catch. Today, the Cookstar Twitter page posted the following:
Did you pick up your copy of Cookstar yet?
You can purchase your copy of Cooking Mama: Cookstar directly through our website for $39.99
Get it here 👉 https://t.co/Rd3j6XMvtZ pic.twitter.com/UKYd6egiZs
— Cooking Mama: Cookstar (@CookstarMama) April 11, 2020
What’s key here is the “$39.99” part of the post. I placed an order for the game on April 9 in the amount of $59.99. No muss, no fuss— the sale went off without a hitch. Yet now, less than a week after my order was placed, the price has dropped by 20 bucks with no explanation from Planet Entertainment (which is handling the physical sale of the game). Here’s the order confirmation that was sent to me:
Other customers have had similar experiences and are Tweeting to ask about the price change:
I’m gonna need $20 back then 😒
— senpee42 (@luvs_senpai) April 11, 2020
Cool.
But are you going to refund the people who paid $60 for it from your site? That would be a good idea.— Dystroph (@Dystrophical) April 11, 2020
For my part, I said much the same as these other users:
Why the price change? Not sure you all can afford to ignore the questions about this given the rocky launch the game has had. pic.twitter.com/6ycfvasqK3
— Robert Marrujo (@Robert_Marrujo) April 11, 2020
It’s another oddity for Cookstar, certainly, and one that the game presumably doesn’t need given the rocky manner in which the game has been released. In fairness, at least one person in the comments alleges to have received their copy in the mail and my own tracking information slates it for a Monday delivery, but the price change is nonetheless frustrating. I’ve emailed customer support for Cookstar as well as Planet Entertainment; if I hear back from either I will update this story at that time.
Source: Cooking Mama: Cookstar Twitter Account
