Last week, we got one heck of a news day from Nintendo, as it finally unveiled everything people need to know about the Switch 2, from some of the games that will grace it on day one to when that launch date actually is (5 June).
Just as the Nintendo Direct presentation actually finished, there was a wave of confusion at the fact that it hadn't included any mention of the console's price, which was then swiftly rebutted by Nintendo putting out some follow-up press releases with the full details.
To that end, we know that the Switch 2 will cost $449.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.95 if you buy it on its own, or $499.99 / £429.99 / AU$769.95 in a bundle with Mario Kart World, the big launch title. That price is chunkier than many people were hoping for, but given it came a matter of hours before the Trump administration slapped global tariffs on almost every trade partner for the US, perhaps it isn't a huge surprise.
What has caused a little more lasting dismay is that Nintendo more quietly announced some quite big changes to actual game pricing. Principally, Mario Kart World itself won't come cheap – it's going to cost $80 in the US, and £75 for a physical copy in the UK.
Those are big numbers, and some of the other Nintendo Switch 2 accessories are also on the pricy side, like the new Pro Controller, which comes in at £74.99 or $79.99 – big numbers for a controller!
All of this has put the cat amongst the pigeons a little, with people surprised that Nintendo would be the one to push up its game prices before some competitors – even if it's softening the blow in theory by making digital copies of the games cheaper.
While expensive editions of games that give you early access have become common, and it can often be a bit of a challenge to locate the "standard" cheapest version of a new game, such is the marketing, there's no getting away from the fact that Nintendo is pushing the limits here. Only in the last couple of years did it first price a game at $70 or £60 – Tears of the Kingdom, and we didn't know that was the first of many.
It begs the question of how the rest of the industry will react, and there's one massive behemoth of a spectre on the horizon. GTA 6 is due this year, by all accounts expected to be the biggest entertainment launch in history, and Rockstar will doubtless know its own power.
There have already been occasional rumours this year that it'll price GTA 6 at a premium level to account for its huge development costs and the scale of demand, but those claiming it could even come in at $100 have been largely dismissed. Now that Nintendo's broken the seal, though, and gone for its own price rises, is $100 so far-fetched?
Mario Kart World will likely be a huge success too, and the sales figures of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch are gargantuan, so there's every reason to put the series in a similar bucket to GTA. If the new Mario Kart costs $80, $100 for GTA 6 suddenly looks altogether too credible for comfort.
I'd nonetheless bank on some caution from Rockstar – while it might push the price up, I'd still wager that $100 is too far, since it would know the pushback it would get for that move. Still, I can't help but feel like Nintendo might have just crossed the Rubicon on behalf of the industry, so all bets might be off for now.
