Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle for a suggested retail price of $499.99 pic.twitter.com/ipS8Sv4f2a
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) April 2, 2025
I think right now, some people are either more concerned about the price of the Switch 2 itself or about the fact that 1 game, Mario Kart World, is priced at $80. But I think we’re all overlooking Nintendo’s ultimate masterplan here.
Lots of people are worried that Mario Kart World’s extreme price is Nintendo’s attempt to get gamers used to paying higher amounts for games. There’s a whole separate debate happening online regarding what Mario Kart’s price will mean for GTA 6, but that’s a topic for another time.
In my personal, and always 100% of the time correct opinion (shameless), Nintendo’s pricing strategy has very little to do with getting gamers accustomed to $80 MSRPs. Although they would obviously love if this did happen, and I’m sure they will be paying close attention to their sales to see if it may be possible, it’s not their main goal.
What Nintendo is doing here is something that plenty of companies do all the time, and it’s far more brilliant than brute forcing their way into an expensive future despite the wishes of their customers. The company’s strategy is basically similar to how you may pay annually for some subscriptions that you have.
For example, if you pay annually (or 6 months at a time) for a World of Warcraft subscription, you will get a significant discount over paying for the game on a monthly cadence. Companies, like Blizzard, intentionally make the cost of a monthly subscription much higher than that of an annual sub because they really want you to buy 6-12 months all at once.
Nintendo is taking a page out of that playbook and modifying it to their needs for the Switch 2’s release. This was exactly the first thought I had when I heard that Mario Kart World would cost $80 on its own, but only $50 if you bundle it with the Switch 2. They made the pricing gap so significant that I would guess the majority (or at least a lot) of gamers will be buying the bundle to get the big discount.
Also, don’t forget that Donkey Kong Bananza, a game that can’t be bundled with the Switch 2 at launch, is still only a $70 game. If Nintendo really thought that $80 was possible, they would have simply priced that game at the higher value.
There is one thorn in the side of my argument here that I won’t ignore, and that’s Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition also costing $80 without a bundle option available, or having additional expansions thrown in with the game like the new version of Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World. Although, if I had to guess, I would chalk this up to Nintendo figuring that game has mostly run its course, and the only people buying it again for the Switch 2 are the most diehard fans. Or it could be because Nintendo wants to sell you a sub to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, which will include an upgrade pack for the Switch 2 edition of Tears of the Kingdom.
Time will tell whether or not this is Nintendo’s only short term goal, and like I said, I don’t doubt for a second that they would love to charge $80 for every game in the future. Just remember, you vote with your dollars, not your words.
-@DraakoTP