Nintendo Crisis Alert: Ex-PR Managers Reveal Switch 2 & Mario Kart World Price Backlash!

In light of the recent controversy surrounding the high pricing of Nintendo’s new Switch 2 and Mario Kart World, two ex-PR managers from Nintendo have labeled this phase as a critical challenge for the company.

Former PR managers for Nintendo of America, Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, expressed their disapproval of Nintendo’s pricing strategy in a video on their YouTube channel, highlighting the $449.99 cost of the Switch 2 and the $79.99 price tag for Mario Kart World.

“It may seem excessive to describe it as such, but it indeed appears to be a real crisis moment for Nintendo,” Ellis remarked.

Mario Kart World is not the only game for the Nintendo Switch 2 priced at $79.99. Other Switch 2 Edition games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also carry the same price tag.

Criticism has also been directed at Nintendo for charging for the Switch 2 tutorial game, Welcome Tour, which many believe should have been included for free. By comparison, Astro’s Playroom comes pre-installed on every PlayStation 5, serving as a complimentary tech demo for the DualSense controller.

The frustration over the pricing has even affected Nintendo’s Treehouse livestreams, with viewers flooding the chat with demands to “DROP THE PRICE”.

Ellis and Yang specifically criticized the manner in which Nintendo announced the pricing for the Switch 2 and its games, pointing out that the omission of the price in the Direct broadcast was a deliberate strategy that led to confusion and misinformation as fans sought to confirm the prices from other sources.

According to Yang, the pricing details were “intentionally left out of the Direct for a reason, but it was poorly executed in how the information was scattered, leaving fans and consumers to piece everything together.”

Ellis commented on the approach: “It reflects a certain disregard for the consumer, where it’s assumed you’re so thrilled by the Direct that you’ll blindly spend your money without even questioning the cost.”

“It feels somewhat insulting to the intelligence of the consumer,” Yang added.

The former Nintendo of America communication staff then discussed how Nintendo has not yet addressed the pricing issue publicly, leading to widespread speculation and the spread of false information.

“They’ve allowed the narrative to spiral out of control,” Yang noted. “They’ve lost command of the situation,” Ellis continued.

Ellis and Yang believe that Nintendo has lost the consumer-centric focus it once had, especially after the retirement of former NOA president Reggie Fils-Aimé and the passing of former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Yang mentioned that Nintendo’s communications team is likely advising the release of an official statement, though she anticipates a cumbersome approval process involving many stakeholders before it reaches Nintendo’s current president, Shuntaro Furukawa.

They also noted that Nintendo has been out of practice in communicating with its community and the press, not having faced such negativity since the Nintendo 3DS pricing issue in 2011.

There are now concerns about the staff at public Switch 2 demo events, where they might face direct questions from the public. Any responses they provide could potentially be misconstrued as official statements from Nintendo.

What the future holds is unclear, but neither Ellis nor Yang anticipate a reduction in the price of the Switch 2 or its games prior to launch.

For further details, check out everything announced at the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and what experts are saying about the pricing strategies for the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World.