Nintendo Discounting First-Party Games is a Good Sign for the Future
Typically, when patient players pick up a new PlayStation or Xbox a few years after release, some of the consoles' biggest launch titles come at a discount. Console defining experiences like Spider-Man: Miles Morales may even be discounted as early as next spring when the PS5 ramps up manufacturing and restocks. Microsoft has also been pretty generous with discounting games a short while after the next Xbox releases as well. However, the one outlier that always sticks to its guns is Nintendo, which very rarely discounts its first-party titles. Games like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey have not had their MSRP drop once since the Switch's release in 2017.
That is, until recently. Obviously, the holidays are typically a time where every storefront implements discounts, even Nintendo. That's not to demonize Nintendo, but it's just been known to stubbornly keep up premium prices until the absolute last minute. One check of the Nintendo Official Store and most players will find that almost every first-party triple-A title remains at $59.99. However, physical versions of those games are mostly on sale this holiday at places like Amazon or Best Buy, which is something pretty rare for Nintendo's biggest titles. Hopefully, 2021 will bring more sales to first-party titles, now that the Switch console is almost four years old.
Of course, there's always the argument of "Why discount games if they're selling well?" which is honestly a fair assessment. Nintendo knows its first-party IP sells incredibly well on its own, regardless of the lack of sales. Nintendo's brand and first-party IP will always be its biggest sellers, regardless of whether the company is experiencing a boom like the Nintendo Switch, or a bust like the Wii U. However there's a reason why PlayStation and Xbox, that in many cases also has heavy hitting first-party IPs, puts its games on sales comparatively much earlier. There's just no world where discounts don't boost unit sales on first-party IP, even much later on.
The reason why Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey sell so well, all the time, is because these games can largely be considered system sellers. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser recently echoed that sentiment in an interview with Polygon, stating "former triple-A content" continues to sell quite well. Considering the Nintendo Switch continues to break sales records year-over-year, definitive experiences like Breath of the Wild are going to sell just as well. Not to tell Nintendo, a business, how to do its job, but perhaps promoting more sales on first-party exclusives like Super Mario Odyssey could potentially lead to even more sales success.
Considering storefronts partnered with Nintendo are doing so, it'd be interesting to see Nintendo adopt more official sales, more often. It's hard to argue whether or not discounts lead to better sales without raw data, but it is proven that older games can haver sales boosted with discounts. Consider Grand Theft Auto 5, one of the highest-selling video games of all time, was snatched up by many thousands when the game was offered for free on Epic Games Store. From a gaming enthusiast's perspective, it's hard to believe that anyone doesn't own Grand Theft Auto 5, and yet the game's sales boosted after the free offer had ended. Grand Theft Auto 5 is a seven-year-old game.
Now imagine what would happen if Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey went on sale on the Nintendo Store, even if it was just discounted by $10-15 MSRP. These games still continuously sell well, but Nintendo could potentially see a huge boost in sales numbers for those games. There are plenty of Nintendo Switch owners out there who strictly buy games digitally, those who purchased and slotted a micro-SD card in their Switch immediately to expand storage. Considering how rarely Nintendo puts first-party games on sale, players like that would absolutely buy those games in bulk if they finally went on sale on the Nintendo Switch's official store.
Hopefully, Nintendo becomes a bit more lenient with its existing triple-A titles in the new year. Tons of new Switch owners hopped on to the portable-console hybrid this holiday, and throughout 2020 as well thanks to the surge in gaming hardware sales from the pandemic. It's an unfortunate scenario for the world, but the truth is Nintendo was one of many gaming companies that thrived in the wake of sheltering-in-place and quarantine this year. It's not like an official Nintendo sale couldn't happen, but potentially these holiday sales could tip the scales for Nintendo. Games like Breath of the Wild have already sold millions, why not sell more.
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