Fans had been waiting months for Nintendo’s big Switch 2 Direct. But one thing that’s dominated the conversation following the showcase isn’t the games or the features, it’s the Switch 2's $450 price tag. Now fans are spamming the YouTube chat for the company’s ongoing Nintendo Treehouse livestream with one simple plea: “Drop the price.”
Nintendo Treehouse is a livestream where the company’s employees demo games online, explain what’s new and exciting about them, and occasionally chatting with developers for behind-the-scenes insights. Today’s programming kicked off with a roughly 50 minute deep-dive into Mario Kart World and, later, Donkey Kong Bananza, set to be the Switch 2's big Super Mario Odyssey-style platforming blockbuster for the summer.
Yet with over 70,000 people watching live, all anyone in the chat wanted to talk about was the hardware’s price, and by extension the price hikes on the games, including $80 for Mario Kart World and the Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This wasn’t just occasionally, but was ongoing throughout the first hour of the livestream.
Whether the Treehouse Live staff were firing off green shells in Mario Kart’s first open world, or shooting aliens in Metroid Prime 4, the chat remained: “Drop the price,” “drop the game prices,” “drop drop drop drop.”
Some analysts have suggested the aggressive pricing is an attempt by Nintendo to navigate a complex economic landscape where changing exchange rates and an unhinged, escalating trade war mean the Switch 2 consoles coming into the U.S. could face import taxes of over $150 beginning later this month. Plus, in addition to inflation and other geopolitical factors, Nintendo historically tries to make a profit on each console sale.
“Nintendo appears to be building in a buffer against these potential trade barriers while ensuring they maintain their traditional positive margin on hardware,” NYU Stern professor Joost van Dreunen told IGN. “My view is that they probably had a range of pricing for the US market in play up until the last minute due to the uncertainty on import tariffs.”
Nintendo was asked about the price during a Q&A with media yesterday, Game File reports. But Nintendo apparently told the reporter who asked the question that the developers present weren’t able to comment about pricing strategy.
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