Nintendo Says Switch 2 Games Will See “Variance” in Price “Out of the Gate” (Exclusive)

Since last week’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the pricing of various games announced for the platform. Over the last 8 years, most first-party Switch games have been priced at $59.99, even as the industry had started to move to a standard of $69.

99. Donkey Kong Bananza will follow that pattern when it launches this July, but Mario Kart World is priced even higher, launching at $79.99.



ComicBook recently had a chance to speak with Nintendo of America senior vice president of development and planning Nate Bihldorff, and asked about how game prices are changing in the Switch 2 era. “You can see right out of the gate that there will be variance in prices for software. Of course with Mario Kart there will be further variance because you can get it as part of the bundle, which is retailing for $499 with the system.

But yeah, I think the expectation is that we’ll set the price for each piece of software based on a number of factors, most of which is what’s delivered to consumers,” said Bihldorff. Donkey kong bananza will be priced at $69.99 when it arrives in julyAs Bihldorff mentions, Mario Kart World will see a pretty big price difference for those that opt to purchase it as part of a bundle with the console itself.

Since that bundle is priced at $499.99, consumers will basically save $30 by purchasing them together. Given the number of day one adopters that are likely to buy Mario Kart World, that should offset some of the concerns about that game in particular.

However, Bihldorff’s comments imply that we could see more games hit $79.99 throughout the lifespan of the console. It’s not totally unusual to see Nintendo varying the price of its software; throughout the lifetime of the Switch, we’ve seen several games released at $49.

99 (such as Mario vs. Donkey Kong), and even $29.99 (for Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition).

Those decisions were clearly made based on the perceived value of the products. In the Switch 2 era, it remains to be seen what other games Nintendo will deem worthy of assigning that $79.99 price, or if the negative backlash online towards the price of Mario Kart World will lead Nintendo to rethink this strategy.

RELATED: Nintendo Switch 2 Hands-On: The Successor I’ve Spent Years Waiting ForOf course, none of this takes into consideration the tariff situation currently unfolding throughout the United States. While Bihldorff avoided commenting on tariffs during our interview, Nintendo has since implied that the pricing announced last week could change. That came about as Nintendo announced that the planned April 9th start date for pre-orders has been postponed due to the current tariff situation.

It has not been explicitly stated that those prices will change, but no one quite knows what will happen in the coming weeks. How do you feel about the software pricing for Nintendo Switch 2? Do you think $79.99 is too much to charge for an individual game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!The post Nintendo Says Switch 2 Games Will See “Variance” in Price “Out of the Gate” (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.

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