One of the more shocking revelations from the Switch 2 Direct last week was that Mario Kart World would retail for $80 USD. In other regions, the pricing is higher or lower depending on local currency, but for the most part, this is the most expensive game Nintendo has ever sold. Many people aren’t exactly thrilled about that, but Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser and NOA’s Bill Trinen both believe that the game offers enough content to justify its MSRP.
Speaking to CNBC during the Switch 2 hands-on experience, Doug Bowser was questioned by technology correspondent Steve Kovach about a wide range of topics regarding the Switch 2. The conversation eventually turned towards Mario Kart World’s surprise $80 price tag, and Doug Bowser laid out a few points for what that game was $80 while others weren’t.
“I would say that we’re not really looking to establish a benchmark for pricing,” Bowser stated. This was with regards to how Donkey Kong Bananza is priced at $70 while Mario Kart World is $80. It seems Nintendo will be adopting a much looser structure this generation, where certain games will be higher or lower based on how much content they offer from the jump. “We look at every game and every experience and determine what is the right price point based on that experience,” Bowser elaborated.
We already know that a few third-party games will be $60 and Square Enix’s upcoming Bravely Default remaster is $40, so don’t expect $80 to become Nintendo’s new standard. Still, Mario Kart World likely won’t be receiving a price reduction anytime soon as Bowser thinks the price is fine. “We believe based on the depth and breadth of the play and the repeatability of the play over time, that the pricing we’ve announced is the right pricing,” he told CNBC.
In a separate interview with IGN, NOA’s Bill Trinen basically echoed what Bowser had told CNBC. When questioned on the $80 price tag, Trinen said, “I would say it’s less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what’s the content, and what’s the value?”
Trinen believes that since Mario Kart World is so “big and so vast,” players will naturally find more value in it than previous installments in the series. There are, reportedly, a number of things to discover that Nintendo has yet to reveal and there’s still an entire Direct dedicated to the game in the next few weeks.
Now, you can take this answer however you want, but as far as Nintendo is concerned, Mario Kart World has more than enough value to justify the higher-than-expected price.
Leave a Comment
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
