Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has commented on the $80 price for Mario Kart World, saying that although he was surprised to see Nintendo go that high, he defended the decision to do so.
Appearing on the Easy Allies podcast, Yoshida said, “The price of software was a surprise I wasn’t anticipating.” But he went on to say that people expecting games to stay locked at $70 despite rising development costs and larger scopes might now have to face the music.
Yoshida said (via GamesRadar) that publishers should not be “limited to the fixed price on the shelf from the physical media days.” Every game should be priced relative to what’s being delivered he said, or in essence, “based on the value the publisher believes.”
While Mario Kart World is $80, other first-party Switch 2 games like Donkey Kong Bananza are sticking with the $70 price point. Before this, Nintendo’s Bill Trinen said Nintendo will “look at varying prices” for its games “based off of just how robust the experience is.”
Trinen added: “It’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what’s the content, and what’s the value?”
Nintendo has also caught some heat for the $70 price point for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch 2, in part over the fact that it doesn’t include the DLC.
Also in the interview, Yoshida said he expected the Switch 2 to be priced at $400 USD, when in reality Nintendo went with $450 for the system itself and $500 for a bundle with Mario Kart World. Yoshida said the price hike might be due to “the cost of goods going up these days.”
Adjusted for inflation, the Switch 2 is about $50 more expensive than the original Switch ($300) when it launched in 2017. Nintendo will reportedly lose money on every Switch 2 it sells at the start.
Explaining the price increase, Nintendo’s Trinen said everything in life gets more expensive with time, and new Nintendo consoles are no different. Others believe Nintendo is raising prices simply because it can, knowing people will pay it.
The Switch 2 launches on June 5 worldwide. US preorders were expected to begin on April 9, but Nintendo delayed them due to Trump’s tariffs. More recently, it was reported that Nintendo could open US preorders for the Switch 2 in the coming days. Some are wondering if Nintendo will re-open US preorders for the Switch 2 at a higher price point due to the tariffs, but it remains to be seen if that will happen.
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