Switch 2 game prices are variable and not every new game will cost $80, Nintendo reiterates

Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser reiterates that not all new Switch 2 games will cost $80 and the company will find the 'right price' for games.

Switch 2 game prices are variable and not every new game will cost $80, Nintendo reiterates
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TL;DR: Nintendo leads the industry with an $80 price point for select AAA Switch 2 games, adopting a flexible pricing strategy based on development depth and game longevity. This approach aligns with Xbox's recent hikes, while Sony's plans remain uncertain. Only major titles are expected to sustain higher prices.

Nintendo was the first in the industry to introduce the new $80 price for AAA games, but the company is careful to say that prices will fluctuate.

Switch 2 game prices are variable and not every new game will cost $80, Nintendo reiterates 19
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Like Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is also embracing a pricing spectrum for new software. In 2020, publishers introduced a new $70 MSRP for games, and now five years later, both Xbox and Nintendo are hiking games to $80. Sony has yet to confirm its plans for $80 games, but analysts believe PlayStation game prices will be hiked too. Only some games will be $80, not all of them--Nintendo and Microsoft were both very deliberate in this rule.

We've seen evidence of this with the Switch 2's games lineup, with Mario Kart World priced at $80 and Donkey Kong Bananza at $70. There's no info on the pricing of other brand new Switch 2 games, but Nintendo says this variability will continue. In a recent interview with Brazilian newspaper Folha, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser re-affirmed the Switch 2's software price mapping strategy.

"The Switch 2 brings back the features you love about the Switch, but introduces a number of improvements. The new Joy-Con features, Game Chat, the new processing power. There's a cost that comes with that. We tried to balance the increased cost of development and capabilities with the right price point for the consumer.

"The same goes for games. We're not trying to set a fixed price for all of them. We look at each one and determine [the price] based on the depth, the development that's gone into the game and its longevity, i.e. how long it can be played. For example, here in the US, the price we announced yesterday was $79 for "Mario Kart World," but "Donkey Kong Bananza" will be priced at $69.

"That's a variable price point, and we'll be looking at it as we go along."

Some analysts believe that only specific companies can pull off $80 games, and Nintendo is undoubtedly one of them:

"A handful of the biggest releases have already sold for higher than an average $80 price at launch thanks to gold, collector's, deluxe etc editions. The biggest of the biggest can pull it off, others will struggle to maintain. FOMO, at the right scale, can do a number on one's price sensitivity," Piscatella said on Bluesky.

There's still a handful of revealed Switch 2 games that have yet to be priced, including the Switch 2 Editions of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.