Nintendo said The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s $69.99 price tag won’t be standard for all first-party Switch games going forward.
Yesterday it was confirmed that Tears of the Kingdom will cost $10 more than Nintendo usually charges for its Switch titles.
However, in a statement to GLM, Nintendo claimed that this was not the start of another permanent price increase for its games.
When asked about his reasoning behind the price and if $70 is the trend for Nintendo titles in the future, a spokesperson replied: “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
Nintendo confirmed the $69.99 price for Tears of the Kingdom shortly after its Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday.
The move marks the first time Nintendo has charged more than $59.99 for a standard edition of a Switch digital game.
Sony started charging $70 for first-party games when the PS5 launched in 2020, while Microsoft started charging $70 for first-party Xbox Series X/S games this year.
Earlier this week, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told investors the company had “does everything possible to maintain both the value and the price of hardware and software in our long-term business strategy”and “He does not believe a change to this policy is necessary at this time.”
Nintendo released its latest financial results on Tuesday, saying fluctuations in currency markets contributed to lower sales and profits, despite strong sales of games and Switch hardware.