Former PlayStation boss explains why Nintendo shouldn’t be blamed for rising game prices
Unsplash: @sisyphus_sosorakisFormer PlayStation Boss Shuhei Yoshida says players shouldn’t expect game prices to stay low after Nintendo revealed $80 Switch 2 games.
The Switch 2 was revealed in full on April 2, 2025, alongside some of its launch titles like Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and more.
After showing the games, Nintendo fans spotted that Mario Kart World costs $80, making it the most expensive Mario game of all time.
According to former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida, fans shouldn’t be surprised that game prices are going up, and it was going to happen regardless of Nintendo doing it first or not.
Price increases were going to happen “eventually”
During an interview with PlayStation Inside, Yoshida was asked about the recent decision from Nintendo to raise the prices on games like Mario Kart World.
“I think it was going to happen sooner or later, maybe not from Nintendo, but it was going to happen eventually,” he said. “We live in contrasting times, where inflation is real and significant, but people expect games that are ever more ambitious and therefore expensive to develop to cost the same. It’s an impossible equation.”
PlayStation“Everything in video games today is more advanced and more technologically demanding than ever before, and therefore requires more resources. Each publisher or manufacturer sets the price of its games, of course, but in the end, the heart of the matter lies in production costs.”
Shortly after Nintendo’s game prices were revealed, users flocked to social media to share their thoughts, with GTA 6 fans fearing the worst.
Nintendo’s price increase, paired with previous rumors of a more expensive GTA 6, left fans certain that Rockstar is going to raise the price of the now-delayed game.
