Nintendo’s upcoming Zelda sequel will be more expensive than the company’s other Switch games, paving the way for more game makers to raise their prices as well.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will cost $69.99 (about Rs. 6,000) when it releases in the US on May 12, $10 (about Rs. 850) more than usual for new titles from Nintendo. The move that matches the premium prices of the console competitors Sony And Microsoftcan predict broader increases as it helps normalize the higher upfront cost.
Game studios around the world, including Nintendo’s in the Japanese home market, were keen to raise prices – as the cost of producing games with higher player expectations for quality and content has skyrocketed – but none were willing to do so first. Nintendo’s decision with the new zelda is likely to be welcomed by his peers.
“Particularly outside of Japan, there is sentiment to increase software prices,” Kenjiro Asano, Koei Tecmo’s chief financial officer, said at an earnings briefing on Jan. 30. But his company “didn’t want to be among the first to raise the price,” he added.
Capcom CFO Kenkichi Nomura and Gree senior vice president Yuta Maeda made similar comments when discussing their recent quarterly results. Both see a widespread desire in the industry to raise prices to offset the increase in headcount and spending on new content creation.
A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed that the new Zelda game will be the company’s most expensive first-party title barring deluxe editions with extras thrown in. The company will continue to set reasonable prices for each game, he said.
“If there’s one game that allows Nintendo to test the waters, this is it,” Tokyo-based industry analyst Serkan Toto said Thursday. “The $10 price increase will not only recoup lost purchases from users who skip the game, it will actually result in greater sales overall.”
The earlier part of Breath of the Wild in the Zelda franchise was the Switch’s signature launch title and helped propel the console to success. Nintendo had sold 29 million copies of the game and 123 million Switch consoles by the end of 2022.
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