In case you slept in today, Nintendo held a Nintendo Direct presentation dedicated to the extremely long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2. In addition to revealing technical specifications, Nintendo revealed a bunch of games, such as the open world-esque Mario Kart World.
After the presentation, details on pricing began to come out, including the news that a copy of Mario Kart World will cost an eyebrow-raising $80 USD.
This is a first for the gaming industry in the U.S, which has previously hemmed and hawed for years before settling on $70 as the standard price for major new releases, such as PlayStation's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 or Activision's Call of Duty series.
It's worth noting that not all new Nintendo first-party games will cost $80, as Donkey Kong Bananza, a 3D platformer with an emphasis on physics and environmental destruction, was announced with a $70 retail price.
It's also important to keep in mind that there's some variance here. Prices for Nintendo Switch games in other countries consistently show the digital versions being cheaper, so it's entirely possible that pans out for the U.S. as well.
Finally, I'd be remiss not to point out that publishers have been encouraging players to spend more on higher tiers of games for a while, embracing a trend where "Premium Editions" launch first, with a couple of days of early access before the game's general launch.
Even so, there's no two ways about it: This is the first "standard edition" of a game that's launched at this price, but it won't be the last.
Other publishers are going to be watching closely, and I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing other flagship games push an $80 price tag at launch, regardless of whether or not there's a discount on the digital version.
For Xbox players, this could mean the value of Xbox Game Pass is going to go up in the near future, though it's hard for me to imagine that the service wouldn't also see a price hike in the event it starts receiving multiple $80 games.
All of this is also made worse by the U.S. continuing to play footsie with tariff planning across the globe, and the sudden start-stop nature of these plans will wreak havok on supply chains.
By no means will this be everybody or all games at the top, but I'd keep an eye out. I doubt we'll see everybody jump on board immediately, but Grand Theft Auto 6, Marvel's Wolverine, and Perfect Dark? Don't be shocked when those games cost more than what you're already used to paying.
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