Pokémon Winds & Waves Pre-Order Price Already Has Everyone Angry

2 weeks ago 34

Pun intended, Pokémon Winds & Waves will make a big splash when it arrives sometime in 2027. Pokémon games have been selling wonderfully well these past few generations, with Sword and Shield/Scarlet and Violet sitting in the top five of sales for the entire series. While the Switch 2 user base needs to grow a bit before that happens, it's expected to be a system-selling game.

However, there has been some controversy in the Switch 2 era regarding game prices. Mario Kart World, as of the time of publication, is still priced at $79.99. That's a massive increase from the average of $60 from the last generation, and many games, including Pokémon Pokopia, retail for $69.99.

Over on X, fans have been debating new price info, and so far, things don't look good. Pokémon Winds & Waves just might carry on a tradition of Switch 2 pricing.

pokemon winds and waves protagonist smiling up

Thanks to a posting from Amazon Germany, it seems Pokémon Winds & Waves will cost €79.99 each for physical copies, which many pundits say will convert to $79.99 USD when everything is said and done.

While fans are angry at the price hike overall, some are skeptical that it'll deliver, similar to the concerns over Mario Kart World: "They better give us a GTA 6, Baldur's Gate 3, Red Dead 2, and Crimson Desert level experience to justify that price, otherwise the game should be priced a lot cheaper."

This fan shares the same sentiment: "Even then, 70 is too much. Games shouldn't be that much ever. Just look how many indie games outsold AAA games, and they cost way less, like 20 or 30 bucks USD. Sorry, but you won't convince me that any game is worth 70 dollars."

Others are kind of over it: "They know 95 percent of their fanbase is going to buy this without thinking, so what's the point of this post? The base game could cost 300 dollars, and they would buy it. Talking about this is literally a waste IMO."

Some folks are OK with the price increase after all: "How is $70 too expensive? It was $60 (for like 15 years at least), and if you do the math, it usually equates to a dollar or less an hour for good entertainment. The same people spend 20/month on Vbux but then complain about 1 $70 buy."

Pokemon Winds and Waves Cloud shaped like a dragon

As many fans have pointed out, some games are moving away from physical-digital price parity. For instance, Star Fox is $49.99 digitally on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop but $59.99 physically. As the industry figures this all out in real time, it's constantly shifting.

The real miracle is that Nintendo managed to ship the Switch 2 before all of these global hardware shortages, paving the way for Pokémon Winds & Waves. Now all eyes are on the Steam Deck, Microsoft's Project Helix, and the PlayStation 6 to see how expensive those initial price points will be.