There was a time when game prices tended to drop several months after release. This tradition has become rare on the current generation of consoles. This is especially true for Nintendo, which sells titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at full price more than nine years after their launch.
During an interview with Joost Van Dreunen on Twitch, Reggie Fils-Aimé, who served as president of Nintendo of America from 2006 to 2019, was asked about this. In his view, the reason Switch and Switch 2 games haven’t become more affordable is that they’re sold as « complete games » with exceptional production values.
« The Nintendo mentality is… We’re shipping a game complete. It’s ready to play. You know, there’s no “day one” update that’s gonna take three hours. And so… Part of it is… It’s a different mentality. Right? That is their thinking […]
We are going to build the best games. We are going to send them out feature-complete. And as a result, we don’t discount our games. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — never received a price discount. From the day it was launched. Never was discounted. Occasionally retailers might decide to do something. But the company never discounted. And it’s part of this process. We’re gonna make it the best we can. We’re gonna send it feature-complete. And we’re gonna charge a fair price. And that price is never gonna change. »
