Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will cost $90 in Canada.
Shortly before the February 8th Nintendo Direct, the eShop briefly listed the $70 USD/$90 CAD price tag before it was taken down. However, following the release of a new trailer at the Direct, Nintendo confirmed in a press release that this price is indeed accurate.
It’s a notable move from Nintendo, which has otherwise priced Switch games at the standard $79.99 MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) in Canada. While some publishers have moved towards $90 — like PlayStation, 2K and, starting this year, Xbox — they’ve done so for titles on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Given that the Switch was released nearly six years ago, as well as the fact that Nintendo titles rarely go on sale, there’s been some debate about whether games on such dated hardware warrant the increased cost.
MobileSyrup reached out to Nintendo of Canada for comment, but a response has not yet been received. That said, Game Informer asked why Tears of the Kingdom costs more, to which a Nintendo of America spokesperson said, “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.” When asked whether this sets a trend for future Nintendo games, the representative added, “No. We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
It should be noted that there has been speculation among industry insiders that Tears of the Kingdom could be the last “significant” exclusive title for the Switch, given that it’s been around for so long. Presumably, any other major games, like another 3D Mario in the vein of Super Mario Odyssey, would release on whatever the Switch’s successor ends up being. To that point, analysts are looking to 2024 for the next Nintendo console. In other words, Nintendo could be testing the waters with $90 games before shifting towards that pricing range in its next-gen system.
For now, though, Nintendo is mostly just talking about the first half of 2023, which was the focus of its February 8th Direct. Some of the highlights of the show include the aforementioned new look at Tears of the Kingdom (reiterating a May 12th release), a new trailer for Pikmin 4 (coming July 21st) and shadow drops for Metroid Prime Remastered and Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles on Switch Online.
Image credit: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
