Nintendo has officially stated that the company will not start pricing all their games at $ 70 moving forward.
We reported a few days earlier that the Nintendo store page for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be retailing at $ 69.99. That price got pulled from the site, but we can confirm that as of right now, this store listing definitely has the game priced at $ 69.99.
Nintendo shared a statement to GameInformer to clear this up. Answering both questions if these will be their game prices moving forward, and also how they decided to price The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, they said this:
“We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
Gamers had feared that Nintendo would be following this trend rapidly. Sony decided to price up their games early on in the lifespan of the PlayStation 5. Microsoft then revealed last year that they would also start selling their games at this price point.
Outside the console companies themselves, third parties have already started adopting this $ 70 price point. None of these companies are normalizing it for all their games, but their most popular and sought after games are hitting that price point. We reported on both Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PC and Hogwarts Legacy marking the $ 70 price point.
At least in the case of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you do have a path to get the game cheaper, whether there is a game sale or not.
Nintendo brought back their Nintendo Switch Game Voucher program. For $ 100, you get two game vouchers which you can then use to buy two separate games. Assuming you want to buy another game that’s eligible for a voucher alongside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you stand to save $ 30 or more. To avail of these vouchers, you will also need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online account.
As you can see on this official list, the eligible games on the Game Voucher program mostly consist of Nintendo’s first party heavy hitters. They include other upcoming titles like Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp, Fire Emblem Engage, and Pikmin 4, as well as any older hits you may have missed, like Metroid Dread, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023.
