For decades, the average triple-A video game retailed for $60. That finally changed this console generation, as many publishers started bumping the price of their games to $70. One of the few publishers that has resisted this price hike is Nintendo, which has only charged an extra $10 for a single game to date. According to a new rumor, we should expect more $70 games when the Nintendo Switch 2 launches next year.
In a recent blog post, Nintendo leaker Zippo claimed, “Nintendo’s next generation games will be priced higher than the last gen by ten dollars.” In other words, most, if not all, of Nintendo’s first-party Switch 2 games will cost $70 in stores and on the eShop.
This wouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given how many video games now retail for $70. Diablo 4, Final Fantasy 16, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor — these are a handful of the $70 games that launched in 2023. Plus, as noted above, Nintendo began experimenting with a higher price point when it launched The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at $70 back in February.
At the time, Nintendo noted that it decides the suggested retail prices for products on a case-by-base basis. The company also said that it wouldn’t be a trend going forward, and to that point, it hasn’t been. Every other major Nintendo Switch title in 2023, from Super Mario Bros. Wonder to Pikmin 4 to Super Mario RPG, has retailed for $59.99.
Zippo also claims “budgets and production values for Nintendo games are about to massively, and I mean, massively increase,” presumably due to the significantly improved performance of the Switch 2. We don’t expect the new console to be powerful enough to play Grand Theft Auto 6, but it will still be a massive step up from the last console.
“This new system’s gonna be announced before too long here, but I would expect them to stay quiet about the pricing of games until the games are actually available for pre order, as they did with Tears of the Kingdom,” Zippo added.
There’s a chance that Nintendo will announce the Switch 2 in the first half of the year and release it by the fall or even earlier. If so, we’ll find out sooner than later if Nintendo does plan on hiking the price of its first-party games as this rumor suggests.