Nintendo revealed more details about its upcoming console-handheld hybrid gaming system late Thursday night, but the freshly announced game line-up and $299 price point didn’t seem to inspire much faith in the company’s investors.
According to GameSpot, Nintendo’s share price fell by 5.75 percent by the close of the Japanese market yesterday, marking the lowest value the company’s stock has seen since last December.
When the Switch was first revealed last October, industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto emphasized how crucial the console’s price would be to its success. More recent comments suggested that anything over $300 wouldn’t bode well for the Switch, but the console’s cozy $299 MRSP didn’t seem to quell investor fears.
Anxiety over a less-then-robust catalog of launch day Switch games could also have contributed to the initial decrease in stock value. Though several anticipated games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were announced to launch right alongside the console, Nintendo’s flagship Super Mario series and many other games revealed during the stream won’t be releasing until later in 2017
In addition to the price, yesterday’s announcement revealed that the console will release globally on March 3, 2017 and, unlike past Nintendo systems, won’t restrict most software by region.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo’s stock has a nasty habit of falling immediately after announcement streams and big releases. Back in October, Nintendo’s shares rose 4 percent the day before the Switch’s initial reveal and then subsequently fell by over 6 percent after the presentation.
Nintendo saw a similar trend with Super Mario Run which, despite topping charts in digital markets, still caused a 5 percent fall in the company's stock value immediately following its release.
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