Analysts Explain Why Nintendo Has Increased the Cost of Games for Switch 2
by
William D’Angelo
, posted 9 hours ago / 852 Views
Nintendo will be increasing the price of its new releases with its next-generation console, the Nintendo Switch 2. With even Mario Kart World costing more than the bigger releases on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S – $80 vs $70.
Analysts have now spoken with GamesIndustry explaining as to why Nintendo increased the price of its games.
Kantan Games founder Dr Serkan Toto stated, “Against the backdrop of global inflation, it’s a good opportunity for Nintendo now to set the stage for the future and raise prices across the board.
“They look at the industry and see Sony charging $700 for a PS5 Pro or rumors about price hikes for blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto 6. Nintendo was also encouraged by the fact that they got away with the $70 they charged for Tears of the Kingdom in 2023.
“And even simpler, I think they raised software prices across all these regions because they think they can.”
Toto believes that fans will adjust to the higher prices.
“Nintendo already priced in the protest and uproar by part of the fan base, betting this will all blow off and gamers will come to accept a new normal eventually. And I think they will be correct about this,” he added.
Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls thinks the increased prices could be due to inflation and the fact Nintendo does not do as much DLC and microtransactions compared to other developers.
“I think $80 for Mario Kart World reflects the recent inflation we’ve seen across all areas of consumer goods, is a benchmark for the new platform and is also because Nintendo is not aggressively pursuing in-game monetisation to offset rising costs,” said Harding-Rolls.
“Then you have the tariff situation which will impact physical games more than digital. A price differential between the two mediums in this context is understandable.”
He added, “Nintendo has a bit of a history of pricing games higher than other platforms when coming to the market mid-cycle compared to other console platforms – in this case PS5 and Xbox Series.
“I remember back in the day N64 titles being more than PlayStation titles, for example. Some of that is related to cost of goods, but Nintendo also likes to follow its own approach and price based on its own appreciation of value.”
Harding-Rolls doesn’t believe the higher game prices will impact the Switch 2 in the short term.
“I don’t expect the pricing to stop early adopters buying into Mario Kart World and many will be buying the bundle anyway. Based on this I think some top tier Nintendo titles will launch at this price point and some third parties will also follow suit.”
Executive Director & Video Game Industry Analyst at Circana (NPD) Mat Piscatella stated, “I don’t see this as being a massive challenge for year one for Switch 2 in particular. But we are in interesting times, with some unprecedented (at least in anyone’s current lifetime) factors.
“I think the more interesting question is what may happen with the rest of the video game market, particularly in the US.”
Piscatella added, “My read is that the most likely scenario is that we’ll see video game product pricing start to rise in the US, although these changes may not be consistent or universal. I’m also expecting that consumers will shift even more to free to play/live service games as they try to grapple with increased costs in everyday spending categories like food.”
“I anticipate the console market in particular to continue to shift to older and/or more affluent consumers, as other parts of the market will lean even more into readily available and accessible mobile and PC gaming.
“I’m also expecting the decline of physical software sales to accelerate even more, as physical versions of games may end up carrying higher pricing than digital versions.”
“Or perhaps only some (or even none) of those expectations will end up playing out,” Piscatella concluded. “Who knows.”
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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