The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be Nintendo’s first game to run MSRP, but according to Nintendo prices won’t change across the board but on a “case-by-case” basis.
The day before the February Nintendo Direct some fans noticed prices for Tears of the Kingdom of sites like Best Buy had changed from $59.99 to $69.99. Much to everyone’s chagrin, however, this topic wasn’t brought up at all during the Direct, leaving everyone to wonder exactly what was going on.
Digital Trends talked to a Nintendo spokesperson who told the site “No” when asked if $70 was the new standard price. The spokesperson went on to say “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
It comes as little surprise that Nintendo is considering raising game prices, as both Sony and Microsoft have done so already. It’s a trend that’s slowly started to creep into more of the industry after 2K was the first to announce next-gen editions of their games would be raised by $10 in 2020.
Microsoft was the latest to join the trend, stating that “some” Xbox Series X|S titles, like Starfield, would be raising prices to $70. The catch there, of course, is that all of Xbox’s first-party titles launch day and date on Xbox Game Pass.
In a Telegraph interview in 2020 PlayStation boss Jim Ryan was asked if he thought a $70 price tag was fair for games, to which he responded “Yes, yes, I do. If you measure the hours of entertainment provided by a video game, such as Demon’s Souls compared to any other form of entertainment, I think that’s a very straightforward comparison to draw.”
If Nintendo was going to raise prices on any game it makes sense that it would be Zelda. Not only is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom likely one of the most expensive games Nintendo has ever made, but it’s one of the most anticipated titles of the year, meaning fans will be more willing to pay a bit more.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12, 2023, for Nintendo Switch.
