Things are getting more expensive, and that includes our video games. Alongside their epic Nintendo Direct last night, the Big N revealed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will cost $70 at launch, $10 more than consumers are used to paying for Nintendo Switch games. or from any other platform. This has generated a lot of hype on the internet regarding the cost of making games, what constitutes fair prices, and whether all Nintendo games will be $70 in the very near future. For its part, Nintendo claims that this will not be the case.
Following the outcry over the new price, Game Informer reached out to Nintendo to find out what it was about and whether or not it would be the new standard. Nintendo replied, “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis”, explaining why Tears of the Kingdom is so expensive. The spokesperson went on to say that this would not be a trend in their games in the future, stating, “No. We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
That might sound like good news (and Pikmin 4 is $59.99) for those worried that games will start to get even more expensive, but it’s not real confirmation that prices won’t go up to $70. at one point. Clearly the company knows that Tears of the Kingdom is going to sell well at almost any price point, so they’re not playing around with that price hike, which makes it a great testing ground for something like this. Plus, it’s one of Nintendo’s most important games, which took a huge team and years and years to develop, so there’s plenty of reason to believe that this game cost more. It’s also hard to talk about corporate greed when you’ve just given your Japanese employees an overall 10% raise, when most tech companies are laying off dozens of employees. Whatever the reason for the price hike, it looks like we don’t have to worry too much about the price hikes for all of Nintendo’s games just yet.