One of the biggest talking points of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct we witnessed last week wasn’t actually about the console itself, but the games. The reveal that Mario Kart World will be $80 when purchased physically was quite a shock, and it certainly got the internet talking, along with spreading misinformation. A new interview from The Washington Post with Nintendo boss Doug Bowser has shed light on why the game is priced the way it is – and the new “variable pricing” approach Nintendo will explore with the Switch 2.
Speaking on the $80 price tag, Bowser (not the evil one) said “what you see right there is variable pricing”, clarifying that Nintendo will “look at each game […] the breadth and depth of the gameplay” and use those to determine “the right price point of a game”. This new approach to pricing games is justified by Bowser as being about “deciding the right thing to do for its products” and specifying that this is how they “want to proceed” with pricing in future.
This is quite the change in determining how to price their titles. Games typically have a standard retail price, currently $70, that most big-budget games will price themselves at regardless of size or quality. Nintendo’s approach will charge more, such as with Mario Kart World, for games it determines have a higher value and offer more than others do. We hope we’ll also see the inverse, and smaller titles perhaps come out with lower price tags. We can dream!
What do you make of Nintendo’s new variable pricing approach to their Switch 2 games? How much are you willing to pay for a game? Let us know in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news.
