The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom could 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 Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, one of the highest-rated video games of all time, and so hype is incredibly high.
Nintendo has released a few Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailers so far, with each one revealing more details about what the game will entail from both a gameplay and story standpoint. While much of Tears 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.
Pre-orders for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have 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 for Tears of the Kingdom before pulling pre-orders entirely. Other retailers have also pulled their Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pre-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 a Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom price increase does happen, it's possible it will be announced during the next Nintendo Direct presentation. Nintendo is hosting a Nintendo Direct event on February 8 at 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 Kingdom is 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 for Tears 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 for Tears of the Kingdom without 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.
Since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is 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 increase Zelda: 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 inevitable Switch 2 console. For now, the Tears of the Kingdom price increase isn't even official yet, so fans will have to wait for see what happens.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches May 12, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
