cha-ching $70 and $80 game price tags send an early signal about Switch 2 game pricing Early first-party games are getting bumped up to the $70-to-$80 range. Andrew Cunningham Apr 2, 2025 3:30 pm | 7 Mario Kart World's $80 price tag increase is a significant bump from the current Switch. Credit: Nintendo Mario Kart World's $80 price tag increase is a significant bump from the current Switch. Credit: Nintendo Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNintendo's Switch 2 presentation gave us pricing for the console ($449 to start) and Nintendo's product pages have given us pricing information for accessories ($80 for a Pro Controller, $90 for another pair of Joy-Cons, and $110 for a replacement dock, sheesh). But what Nintendo didn't mention during the presentation was game pricing, either for standalone Switch 2 titles or the Switch 2 Edition upgrades for existing Switch games.We do have one solid first-party data point for US game pricing:Mario Kart World, the console's flagship launch title, will cost $50 when you buy a digital copy as part of a Switch 2 bundle. But the game will cost $80 when you buy it on its own, $30 more than the pack-in version and $20 more than the usual $60 price for first-party Switch games.That doesn't mean that $80 is the starting price forall Switch 2 games.Donkey Kong Bananza, slated for a near-launch July 17 release, has a $69.99 MSRP, which is more in line with the $70 default for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S games.Nintendo hasn't explained that first-party pricing gap between the two games, but it could reflect Mario Kart World's more involved online multiplayer, or simply be a way to push people on the fence in the direction of the cheaper bundled version.Inflation alone would be enough to justify the price increasesa $60 game in 2017 could cost $78 now (though that's using the overall rate of inflation, and prices have risen more steeply in some corners of the economy than others). But with a new console comes the potential for better and more detailed graphics, and those can take more money to produce, too.The big question mark is how expensive the Switch 2 Edition game upgrades will be, and what the price gap (if any) will be between games likeMetroid Prime 4 orPokmon Legends: Z-Athat are going to launch on both the original Switch and the Switch 2.But we can infer fromMario Kart andDonkey Kong that the pricing for these Switch 2 upgrades will most likely be somewhere in the $10 to $20 rangethe difference between the $60 price of most first-party Switch releases and the $70-to-$80 price for Switch 2 games. Sony charges a similar $10 fee to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 editions of games that will run on both consoles.Nintendo will also use some Switch 2 Edition upgrades as a carrot to entice people to the more expensive $50-per-year tier of the Nintendo Switch Online service. The company has already announced that the upgrade packs for Breath of the Wild andTears of the Kingdom will be offered for free to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers. The list of extra benefits for that service now includes additional emulated consoles (Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and now Gamecube) and paid DLC for both Animal Crossing: New Horizons andMario Kart 8.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 7 Comments