Higher Game Prices Could Become The Norm After Switch 2 Reveal, Analysts Predict

One of the big surprises following this week’s Switch 2 deep dive was the price tag for Mario Kart World, as the game has a “suggested” retail price of $80 ahead of its June 5 release. This is a major increase–especially at a time when consumers are still debating the value of high-profile games increasing from $60 to $70–and according to analysts, this could become the new standard for the industry.

In a breakdown of the Switch 2 and its pricing, analysts at Niko Partners discussed the impact of Mario Kart World and its price. “While there has been some sticker shock regarding the price of games increasing from $60 to $70 or $80, these price-points are set to become industry standard over the next two years, especially so for Nintendo first-party games,” Niko Partners explained. “One reason for the higher price is the increased cost of the new and faster Game Cards themselves, with higher capacities being more expensive to manufacture than a PS5 Blu-ray disc.”

It is worth noting that certain Switch 2 Game Cards will only contain keys on the cart that can be used to authenticate a purchase and then download a game directly to the console. Whether these games will cost $60 or $70 remains to be seen, but another Switch 2 game, Donkey Kong Bananza, does have an MSRP of $70. The other concern here is that Nintendo will likely set a new precedent for game prices with Mario Kart World, allowing other publishers to follow suit and also charge $80 for new games.

It has already been rumored that GTA 6 will cost $80 when it launches, which isn’t too surprising given that GTA 6’s publisher Take-Two Interactive was the first company to sell a standalone video game for $70 in 2020. A few years later, Nintendo’s first $70 game was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

While Nintendo first-party games rarely receive significant discounts during the first few years of their lifespan, you can technically get Mario Kart World for $50 when it’s released. The game will be sold as part of a Switch 2 bundle priced at $500, effectively discounting it by $30. Alternatively, you can pick up the Switch 2 on its own for $450 and it is backwards compatible with almost the entire Switch library.

Several Switch games like Super Mario Odyssey, Arms, and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet will also receive undefined updates, while other games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will have graphical upgrade options that can be purchased separately.