Nintendo's Reason for No Discounts: It Ships "Complete" Games, Former President Says
Overview & Key Takeaways
Patience usually pays off when it comes to new games, as a few months after launch, a steep discount isn't uncommon. Nintendo is one of the few exceptions to that rule, as, apart from a rare sale, prices for its first-party titles largely remain the same for years on end. Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé recently commented on this strategy, comparing the games to "Kyoto craftsmanship" that are designed to offer a complete and crafted experience from day one.
"The Nintendo mentality is, we're shipping a game complete," Fils-Aimé said in an NYU Game Center lecture. "It's ready to play. There's no day one update that's going to take three hours, and part of it is, it's a different mentality. That is their [Nintendo's] thinking. I liken this to the idea of Kyoto craftsmanship. The company is headquartered in Kyoto. A city known for its fine craftsmanship: linen, china, pottery, that is Kyoto. I'm convinced that Nintendo, as a company, has that same type of mentality. We are going to build the best games, we are going to send them out feature complete, and as a result--this is where sometimes customers push back--we don't discount our games."
Fils-Aimé would then reference how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild never received a permanent price discount from the day it launched. A quick look at the eShop listing for Breath of the Wild confirms this, as Nintendo is still selling it for $60 almost a decade after it first came out, and dozens of the company's other first-party games are still listed at their launch price.
Patience usually pays off when it comes to new games, as a few months after launch, a steep discount isn't uncommon. Nintendo is one of the few exceptions to that rule, as, apart from a rare sale, prices for its first-party titles largely remain the same for years on end. Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé recently commented on this strategy, comparing the games to "Kyoto craftsmanship" that are designed to offer a complete and crafted experience from day one.
"The Nintendo mentality is, we're shipping a game complete," Fils-Aimé said in an NYU Game Center lecture. "It's ready to play. There's no day one update that's going to take three hours, and part of it is, it's a different mentality. That is their [Nintendo's] thinking. I liken this to the idea of Kyoto craftsmanship. The company is headquartered in Kyoto. A city known for its fine craftsmanship: linen, china, pottery, that is Kyoto. I'm convinced that Nintendo, as a company, has that same type of mentality. We are going to build the best games, we are going to send them out feature complete, and as a result--this is where sometimes customers push back--we don't discount our games."
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Fils-Aimé would then reference how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild never received a permanent price discount from the day it launched. A quick look at the eShop listing for Breath of the Wild confirms this, as Nintendo is still selling it for $60 almost a decade after it first came out, and dozens of the company's other first-party games are still listed at their launch price.
Is this a model that Nintendo can continue to support in the future? Fils-Aimé didn't give any concrete answer, but he did briefly talk about how Nintendo could benefit from a more dynamic pricing model instead of being "beholden" to established price points. Nintendo is already experimenting with shaking up its pricing model, as the company recently revealed that its digital games will be sold at a different price compared to physical releases, starting with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.
At the same time, Nintendo has also tested the waters with $80 games, like the Switch 2 launch title, Mario Kart World.
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