Today, Nintendo hosted a Treehouse livestream to showcase some of the newly revealed games for the Nintendo Switch 2. The showcase features gameplay demos for a variety of games, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Although the video has proved popular, with nearly 70,000 viewers popping in, it’s not due to fan excitement for the upcoming games. Instead, Nintendo fans have apparently gathered to try and make their voices heard about the newly unveiled pricing plans for Nintendo Switch 2 games.
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After seeing that digital games would cost around $80, with physical games even steeper, fans are spamming Nintendo’s chat with “DROP THE PRICE” comments. Games showcased during the Treehouse include Mario Kart World, which is listed with an $80 digital price on Nintendo’s website. The console itself will retail for $450, an increase over the price for Nintendo Switch, but still affordable compared to other current-gen consoles. But it’s the game prices that have players concerned, and now, they’re trying to push back with this comment spree.
During live videos like this one, platforms like YouTube include a live chat. Often, this is a space for fans to share their hype about new games, which is what we saw during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct yesterday. However, now that the prices are out there, gamers are more upset than excited. With the current economic uncertainty, an increase in price for individual games leaves many Nintendo fans unsure if they’ll be able to enjoy the slate of titles planned for the new console.
Gamers Concerned About Nintendo’s New Price Points
With its family-friendly focus, many gamers expect Nintendo to be more affordable than consoles like the PS5 and Xbox. While the Switch 2 itself keeps up on that promise, those $80+ games will add up quickly. And unlike the frequent sales seen in the PS and Xbox stores, Nintendo is known to keep many of its biggest games at full price. Sales are rare for games in the Mario franchise, Legend of Zelda, and other Nintendo IP, so prices tend to stay at or around what they were when those games first came out. Even now, 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild still costs $69.99, as it did when it was first released. So that $10 price hike is especially scary for gamers who know Nintendo isn’t likely to lower its prices even on older games.
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For those excited to see new entries in their favorite Nintendo franchises, this pricing is certainly a bit of a shock. And many players are angry, as the onslaught of “DROP THE PRICE” comments on the Treehouse live stream show. Though those three words are the primary refrain, some gamers are even calling for other fans to avoid buying any new Nintendo games until the company lowers its prices.
With inflation and ongoing economic uncertainty, it’s unclear if or how Nintendo will respond to player outrage. There’s likely a reason that the company chose to increase the cost of individual games, and depending on what led to the decision, there may not be a lot of wiggle room for backtracking now. At any rate, it’s clear that concern over the higher game prices is eclipsing the general hype for many Nintendo fans, at least for now.
How are you feeling about the Nintendo game prices we’ve seen so far? Let us know in the comments below!
