With yesterday's Nintendo Direct, it was officially confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will cost $69.99 on the Nintendo Switch, but a Nintendo spokesperson later clarified that it is not the beginning of a price boost in Switch titles as the company will consider the price tag for each game on a case-by-case basis.

In response to Game Informer's question about whether Tears of the Kingdom marks the beginning of a permanent increase in the price of Switch titles, Nintendo responded that it won't be how things work going forward. "We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis," reads Nintendo's response.



Prior to an official confirmation yesterday, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was spotted on eShop for a brief period with a $70 price tag, igniting speculation regarding a possible increase in the cost of first-party Switch games. Nintendo is actually the last major console manufacturer to release a first-party game at $70, as PlayStation and Xbox had already announced their plans for doing so.

It remains unknown what factors Nintendo would consider in pricing a game at $70, but regarding how anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is at the moment, it is probably a safe bet for the Japanese manufacturer to begin the first price boost with.

PlayStation was the first console holder to release its first-party games with a $70 price tag since the beginning of the new generation of consoles. With a two-year delay, Microsoft also announced last year that Xbox first-party titles will be available for $70 as of 2023. PlayStation also increased the price of its new consoles last year in most regions of the world except for the United States, something that Microsoft could eventually follow. The head of Xbox confirmed earlier that they didn't have any plans to increase the Xbox price yet, but he also mentioned he couldn't promise it forever.

For now, Nintendo has not announced any plans to increase the official Switch retail price. The company released a new OLED model with some upgraded features in 2021 that cost $50 more than the original console.

Posted: Feb 13, 2023 9:40 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/nintendo-price-games-case-by-case/