Nintendo Finally Brings Switch to Tough Chinese Market

  • The Switch has to contend with mobile gaming and content curbs
  • Console gamers in China tend to import rather than buy direct
Nintendo SwitchPhotographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
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Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Nintendo Co. announced they’ll begin selling the Switch console in China Dec. 10, a long-anticipated entry into the world’s biggest gaming arena.

Nintendo’s signature device will sell for 2,099 yuan ($297), about the same as elsewhere around the world. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Odyssey will join the already-greenlit Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe among the first crop of Switch titles in the coming weeks. Nintendo is also preparing to introduce the Switch Lite -- a cheaper version of the console intended to boost the device’s mainstream appeal -- to China at a future date, development partner Tencent said in a social media post Wednesday.