The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomcould cost $70 instead of the usual Switch game asking price of $60. Set to launch on May 12,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis adirect sequel toBreath of the Wild, one of the highest-rated video games of all time, and so hype is incredibly high.
Nintendo has released a fewZelda: Tears of the Kingdomtrailersso far, with each one revealing more details about what the game will entail from both a gameplay and story standpoint. While much ofTears of the Kingdom’s story remains shrouded in mystery, trailers have revealed that Link is struggling with a cursed arm of some kind and that the new adventure will take him both to the skies above Hyrule and the dungeons beneath it.
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Pre-orders forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhave been available with a $59.99 asking price for quite some, but that’s changed in the last 24 hours. Nintendo briefly listed a new $70 price forTears of the Kingdombefore pulling pre-orders entirely. Other retailers have also pulled theirZelda: Tears of the Kingdompre-orders, suggesting that a price increase is going to be announced in the very near future. Many retailers have a pre-order price guarantee, so those that already pre-ordered the game at $60 likely won’t have to pay the extra $10 to get their copy, but those late to the party will almost certainly have to pay $70, assuming the price increase is actually happening.
If aZelda: Tears of the Kingdomprice increase does happen, it’s possible it will be announced during the next Nintendo Direct presentation. Nintendo is hosting aNintendo Direct event on February 8at 2pm PT, which will primarily focus on Switch games coming in the first half of 2023. Barring any unforeseen release date delay,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis easily the biggest new Switch release for the first half of 2023, and so it seems like a guarantee for the show.
As for why Nintendo would raise the price forTears of the Kingdom, there are multiple factors to take into account. Even though the Switch is much older hardware, the industry has slowly transitioned to a$70 price for new games. Consumers have proved that they are willing to pay $70 for new video games, and so it’s almost certain that Nintendo could get people to pay that much forTears of the Kingdomwithout hurting the game’s sales. Another possible reason is worldwide inflation and the economic problems that the world is currently dealing with, which has seen other video game companies raise their prices as well.
SinceThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis guaranteed to be a massive game release, it’s really the perfect title for Nintendo to test the waters with a price increase. If Nintendo is able to increaseZelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s price without suffering any sales losses, it’s possible that the company will look into making other brand-new Switch games more expensive. Alternatively, Nintendo may wait to increase the prices of its other games until it introduces the inevitableSwitch 2 console. For now, theTears of the Kingdomprice increase isn’t even official yet, so fans will have to wait for see what happens.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlaunches May 12, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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