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Pokémon Winds & Waves Pre-Order Hit $79.99 And The Internet is About to TM36

Cue5/24/2026

Pokémon Winds & Waves Pre-Order Hit $79.99 And The Internet is About to TM36

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SO WHY SO MUCH BRO?

To be briefly fair, before we cut that shit out, the Switch 2 pricing situation has been a slow slide for a while. Mario Kart World launched at $79.99. Most Switch 2 titles are sitting at $69.99. So Game Freak pricing the new mainline Pokémon at $79.99 isn't shocking it's just the next step in a pattern that keeps getting harder to defend.

The franchise has taken heat for years over shipping games that feel meh relative to what people are paying. Scarlet and Violet launched in a state that was, charitably, a work in progress. The idea of paying $79.99 for whatever comes next has fans doing the math out loud and not liking the answer.

One comment circulating right now captures it perfectly: "They better give us a GTA 6, Baldur's Gate 3, Red Dead 2, and Crimson Desert level experience to justify that price."

That's the bar now. Whether Game Freak can clear it is a very different conversation.

THE COUNTER_ARGUMENT (Sure, Fine) - THE TM18 OF IT ALL

Some people are pointing to inflation and rising development costs. Adjusted for inflation, $79.99 in 2026 isn't that far from what games cost decades ago. That's technically true. It's also not the most satisfying answer when you're talking about the highest-grossing media franchise in history charging more while the quality discourse keeps circling the same drain.

WHERE THIS GOES

The honest answer is that Pokémon fans will buy the game. That's the reality Nintendo and Game Freak are operating on. Pre-orders will exist. Sales will hit records. The discourse will cool down by launch week.

But if Winds & Waves ships with the same optimization problems Scarlet and Violet had? This conversation is going to be significantly louder than it was last time. And at $79.99, people won't be as willing to give it a pass.