Why is the price of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom $70?
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We have been seeing an increase in game prices for years now across parts of the world, this mostly goes on with the increase in graphics, game size, and immersive experience provided going from small 8-bit Mario all the way up to some of the most aesthetically pleasing games to play in 4k. But why has Nintendo decided to jump their price from their usual $60 to $70 seemingly just for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom release?
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom price point
The announcement from Nintendo that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be $70 may seem a little steep, especially for a game coming out in the middle of the life cycle of a console that isn’t even a collector’s edition.
When we look a little deeper into the Zelda universe and this sequel to Breath of the Wild, the game quality, size and competition it isn’t really a surprise that Nintendo have upped their price. Although sources from inside Nintendo have admitted that this new pricing will be taken on a case-by-case basis depending on the quality and size.
When asked, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser ( apparently unrelated the Princess stealing bad guy ) said that the price is based on what the game has to offer.
This reflects Nintendo’s statements on the matter, where the company said that it isn’t moving to a $70 price point for future releases and that it will instead base game pricing on the content. Bowser goes on to say that the price “reflects the type of experience fans can expect” in that Nintendo product.
Why are games now $70?
We have seen through other consoles such as Microsoft and Sony PS5 that this relatively high suggested retail price for games reflects directly into the content and quality of the games you receive such as Modern Warfare 2 on release costing $70. We are seeing that $50 to $70 on release is now a fairly common pricing model.
This takes into account the artistry, the hours of play testing, coding, recording and conceptualizing that comes behind these games, so although we see prices increasing, we also see the increase in the quality and content as the video gaming Industry continues to increase its worth.
When it comes to Nintendo switch games, these do vary from other consoles in that you are having to buy a physical cartridge for their games, this affects the price point in that cartridges of a lower capacity will cost less to make but Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is set to be released on a 32gb cartridge which means this particular game is large compared to other Zelda games.
Even just from the screenshots we can see that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is setting up to be a visually stunning game that pushes the Nintendo Switch to it’s peak performance.
