Doug Bowser confirms variable pricing for Nintendo Switch 2 games
The president of Nintendo of America clarifies the company’s pricing policy: the Nintendo Switch 2 game catalog will not have unified pricing but will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Nintendo Switch 2 continues to generate hype following its final presentation during the Nintendo Direct on April 2. One of the most discussed and controversial aspects has been the pricing of its games, especially after it was confirmed that titles like Mario Kart World will cost $79.99 for the physical edition and $69.99 for the digital edition in the U.S. market. In a recent interview, Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America, revealed the company’s plan for the Switch 2 catalog: game prices will vary depending on factors such as the scope of the project, development costs, gameplay depth, and overall duration.
Nintendo Switch 2 breaks with the tradition of unified pricing: each game’s price will depend on its release type
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Doug Bowser addressed many questions regarding the company’s pricing policy for the Nintendo Switch 2 catalog. According to Bowser, titles with announced prices, such as Mario Kart World ($79.99 physical, $69.99 digital) or Donkey Kong Bananza ($69.99 physical, $59.99 digital), will maintain their final price. However, when asked about the difference between these two releases, Bowser was clear:
“This is variable pricing. We look at each game and consider factors such as development, gameplay depth, or the experiences it offers,” Bowser explained.
“All of these are among the factors, and there are more that we consider when determining what we believe is a fair price for each game. So yes, you can expect this variable pricing in the future; we haven’t set this precedent yet,” Bowser concluded.
The president of Nintendo of America confirms that Nintendo Switch 2 indeed breaks with one of the company’s long-standing traditions: a unified pricing policy for each system.
A shift from unified pricing to variable pricing
The original Nintendo Switch from 2017, with its hybrid console concept, represented the unification of Nintendo’s two historical product lines: portable consoles and home consoles. Typically, portable games like those for the Game Boy, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS were priced around $39.99, while home console games for systems like the Nintendo 64, GameCube, or Wii were priced around $59.99. However, since the Switch combined the best of both worlds, there was unified pricing for all first-party games, generally around $59.99, with some highly anticipated releases reaching $69.99, such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023).
Now, with the arrival of Nintendo Switch 2, the company is returning to a system similar to but not identical to the previous one, where the price of each game will vary depending on its scope.
Preorder delays in the U.S.
Nintendo has delayed preorders for the Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S., citing the need to assess the impact of new tariffs and evolving market conditions. This decision has sparked speculation about potential price adjustments for both the console and its games, but it updated its website recently, and the prices remain the same, at least for now.
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