Pokemon fans fear their favorite series is next in line for a price hike after new leaks from the Nintendo eShop revealed a $69.99 price tag for the upcoming Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Zelda: Breath of the Wild is set to release on May 13 this year. While the game was hit with a slight delay, we now have official footage to go off so we know a good idea of what to expect from the next Zelda entry, now officially titled Tears of the Kingdom.
From the game’s announcement, it’s been available for pre-order for customers with the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, and Gamestop all offering a chance for fans to lock in their physical copy.
Previously, those were the only three places players could place pre-orders for the highly anticipated game, with no way to place orders on the Nintendo eStore. It was priced at $59.99, the usual price set for most triple-A games in 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is priced at $69.99 according to eShop https://t.co/lNRCkuN5w3 pic.twitter.com/Hf0N8dhjSH
— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 8, 2023
But a new leak spilled out on February 7, just hours ahead of the latest Nintendo Direct. This leaked posting in the eShop briefly revealed Nintendo’s plans to sell Tears for the Kingdom for $69.99, $10 dollars more than usual.
It was confirmed that the Canadian eStore also had a price increase of $10, mirroring the spike in the US. Of course, Canadian fans pointed out that if the price increase is real, it would mean the Tears of the Kingdom would be over $100 CAD after taxes.
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Notably, the $69.99 price hike was not for a physical copy, just the digital version. But it has not been confirmed by Nintendo if $69.99 is the actual price or just a formatting error.
Naturally, the seemingly imminent price hikes have Pokemon fans worried, as if Tears for the Kingdom does sell well despite the price increase, it could incentivize Nintendo to permanently increase all their newly released games by $10. In fact, this just could be the standard cost for premium Nintendo releases moving forward, pushing their highest-quality games in line with current-gen releases from Microsoft and Sony.
Some Pokemon players were quite mad as the Switch still produces arguably inferior graphics to other consoles, with one Twitter user saying: “The Switch isn’t anywhere close to the other consoles, they shouldn’t have the audacity to be doing this.”
I KNEW this was inevitably coming. The switch isn’t anywhere close to the other consoles, they shouldn’t have the audacity to be doing this. Hell, even some of the new releases aren’t worth the 70. (Gotham knights, sonic frontiers, GOW ragnorok).
— ??? (@realo724) February 8, 2023
Another upset Twitter user pointed out that if the leaked price of Tears of the Kingdom is planned, it would be absurd to charge that much for a game “which could technically run on an Xbox 360 and still struggle to hit 30 frames.”
We’ll just have to wait and see if this new price point is locked in soon, perhaps even during the upcoming Nintendo Direct on February 8.