One of the biggest questions coming out of the Nintendo Switch 2 launch wasn’t just about whether the console would sell well, but whether its launch title, Mario Kart World, would sell well. The quality of the game wasn’t in question, especially with all the new features, modes, and the vastly larger levels. Instead, the question was about the price tag. Nintendo made the game its first $80 title in an incredibly long time, and many weren’t happy about that. In fact, many were livid and felt The Big N was “setting a bad trend” that others would try to emulate. If you recall, one studio did try that with its RPG…and then backpedaled.
Anyway, the joke was slightly on those people when Nintendo revealed last Friday that Mario Kart World had sold 5.63 million units in the first 25 days of launch. That meant when you put those numbers against the 5.82 million Switch units that were sold alongside it in those 25 days, that the game had a near 100% attach rate!
However, gamers fairly wondered how many of those units came from straight-up buying the game separately, and which ones were bought via the Nintendo Switch 2 bundle that was offered. Well, now we know, and it’s both surprising and unsurprising at the same time:
So, yeah, a lot of people went for the bundle, and we’re not surprised by that. After all, if you bought them separately, you’d be paying about $530 before taxes. With the bundle, they knocked $30 off the price, and that’s quite a discount.
What’s also apparent here is that Nintendo clearly WANTED people to get the bundle version, and thus made that the dominant option. However, it shouldn’t be ignored that over a million gamers went to get the game at the $80 price tag, as that meant they were willing to get the game despite the higher price.
The pricing situation is one of several “controversies” that are going on with Nintendo right now and its new system. However, the sales of the Switch 2 and its launch title prove that the “noise” from these voices might not be as loud as one thinks. Furthermore, Nintendo said, and has proven, that not all of their games would be $80 at launch. Donkey Kong’s latest game highlighted that, and more will follow that scope.
Moving forward, Nintendo will likely be mindful of what happened with their racing title and try to avoid such issues with their player base.
