One of the more controversial parts of Nintendo’s recent announcements about the Switch 2 has been the fact that its games will now become quite a bit more expensive. The company has announced that first-party launch title Mario Kart World will be priced at $79.99 for the digital version, while a physical copy will be even more expensive with a $89.99 price tag.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella believes that this new pricing has been Nintendo’s attempts at trying to “future-proof” itself from the effects of the tariffs that are being introduced by the US. This was done because a company would have a much harder time in raising the price of an already-released product. Rather, Nintendo is pre-emptively releasing the product with a higher price tag.
“While pricing for a product can always be lowered over time, it’s extremely difficult and painful to raise pricing on a product once it has been announced or released,” said Piscatella in a conversation with IGN. “This is purely my own speculation, but this pricing is most easily explained by trying to be conservative given the current chaotic market conditions.”
Over on Bluesky, Piscatella has expressed thoughts that this new $80 price tag for video games might end up becoming “the new normal”. He compares this price hike to the cost of groceries going up due to inflation. Only, instead of being a gradual increase in price, the effects are arriving all at the same time.
“Welcome to the new normal of pricing, US folks,” posted Piscatella on the social media platform. “But instead of a slow increase over time like we’ve seen in grocery over the past few years, we’re going to start seeing things happen all at once.”
Piscatella also believes that, even with the price hike, sales of Nintendo’s games and consoles won’t really be affected. He owes this to high-income households, as well as “price insensitive super enthusiasts” that would have bought the product regardless. Effects on sales, he believes, will only start becoming more evident once the Switch 2 enters its second year.
“Based on what we’re seeing across the market, sales to higher-income or more affluent households likely won’t be impacted by this pricing,” Piscatella told IGN. “And, of course, we have the price insensitive super enthusiasts that will do and pay whatever it takes to acquire the Switch 2 at launch. Therefore, because of the limited quantities that will be available during the launch year, I do not anticipate this pricing to hinder year one sales volumes.”
“The true test will come in year two, as supply is likely to become more readily available, and the addressable market will be forced to widen. So, we’ll have to see what happens over the next 9-12 months.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 will be hitting store shelves on June 5 with a price tag of $449.99. Mario Kart World will be available as a bundle with the Switch 2, bring the price up to $499.99. This would essentially make the bundle the cheapest way to grab a copy of the game.
Welcome to the new normal of pricing, US folks. But instead of a slow increase over time like we’ve seen in grocery over the past few years, we’re going to start seeing things happen all at once.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 9:10 PM
