On Thursday morning, Nintendo kicked off the post-hump day portion of the week with a juicy little Nintendo Direct livestream focused on Mario Kart World. It was nice to get some fun new details about the flagship launch title for Switch 2, but the Direct didn’t really answer the biggest question on many gamers’ minds: Why does Mario Kart World cost $80?
Compared to the standard video game price of $60 that held steady for about 15 years — and even considering the more recent bump to $70 with some big titles — the price is downright upsetting at first glance. When the $80 price was first revealed, gamers immediately raised questions. Ever since, Nintendo’s party line has been to tell gamers just wait for the Direct. The implication being that once fans saw the game in action, they’d understand the price hike.
Now that the livestream is over, I don’t feel Nintendo really revealed anything to explain it. (And I’ve actually played Mario Kart World.)
But after giving it some thought, and wanting so badly to scold Nintendo for nickel-and-diming customers, I realized that maybe the price doesn’t even need to be justified. And with ongoing tariff chaos, Nintendo likely has bigger problems. You still can’t pre-order the Switch 2 in the United States, after all.
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