Nintendo reveals its latest Switch 2 bundles just ahead of the console’s price increase

Developed over time first seen 3 months ago

Engadget · 3 months ago

Nintendo has refreshed its Switch 2 console bundles just days before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September, adding a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership that the original launch bundle lacked. The update comprises a revamped Mario Kart World package and a brand new Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundle, both featuring digital copies of their games, suggesting Nintendo is softening the impact of the price hike with added value rather than reversing the increase itself.

The Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle will cost $550 when it arrives in late September, matching the $50 console rise, though Nintendo says it still works out $38 cheaper than buying the console, game and online membership separately after the increase takes effect. Buying everything now, before the hike, remains marginally cheaper still, at $12 less than the new bundle. Separately, the Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundle launches on 22 October, the same day as the game, priced at $530 — a $28 saving, with the standalone game costing $50. Nintendo's earlier "player's choice" bundle, offering Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Pokopia, appears to be phased out as the price rise takes hold.

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In short

Switch 2 bundles refreshed ahead of price rising to $500 on 1 September
New bundles add a free 90-day Switch Online membership
Buying separately now is still marginally cheaper than the new bundles

How this story developed

3 months ago Nintendo has refreshed its Switch 2 console bundles just days before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September, adding a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership that the original launch bundle lacked.
3 months ago Nintendo has refreshed its Switch 2 console bundles just days before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September, adding a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership that the original launch bundle lacked.
3 months ago Nintendo has refreshed its Switch 2 console bundles just days before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September, adding a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership that the original launch bundle lacked.
3 months ago Nintendo has unveiled two updated Switch 2 console bundles days before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September, sweetening the deal by adding a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership that the original launch bundle lacked.
3 months ago Nintendo has unveiled refreshed Switch 2 console bundles just before the hardware's price rises from $450 to $500 on 1 September.

25 Aug, 15:19GamesRadar+ Nintendo reveals its first price-hiked Switch 2 bundles, but I wouldn't recommend waiting for them
25 Aug, 15:21IGN Nintendo Announces First Switch 2 Bundles to Launch Following the Console's September Price Hike
25 Aug, 16:18Polygon Nintendo Officially Reveals New Switch 2 Bundles Ahead of Console Price Hike
25 Aug, 20:02Engadget Nintendo reveals its latest Switch 2 bundles just ahead of the console’s price increase
25 Aug, 20:02IGN Here's Your Last Chance to Get a Nintendo Switch 2 Console for $399.99 Before the September 1 Price Hike

Full account

Nintendo has unveiled two new Switch 2 console bundles in the United States, timed to land just as the price of the console itself rises. From 1 September, the standard Switch 2 will cost $499.99, a $50 increase on its launch price, and the fresh bundles are pitched as a way of softening that blow for shoppers who would rather buy hardware and software together.

The first is an updated version of the existing Mario Kart World package, priced at $549.99. Unlike the original launch bundle, this one now includes a 90-day individual Nintendo Switch Online membership alongside the console and a digital download code for the game. Nintendo says the bundle, due in late September, represents a saving of roughly $38 compared with buying the console, the game and three months of online membership separately once the price rise takes effect.

The second bundle pairs the console with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, the forthcoming sequel to 2022's Switch Sports, and will also include a 90-day online membership. It arrives on 22 October, the same day the game itself is released, priced at $529.99, which Nintendo pegs as a $28 saving. The new title expands on its predecessor with twelve sports in total, including five returning favourites — tennis, volleyball, basketball, bowling and golf — plus newcomers such as table tennis, archery, skateboarding and thumb wrestling.

The bundles supersede a limited-time offer launched in May, which let buyers choose between Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Pokopia alongside the console; that deal appears to be on its way out as the price increase takes hold. Nintendo's move comes amid a wider run of hardware price rises across the games industry, with Sony and Microsoft both having lifted PlayStation and Xbox prices this year, largely attributed to a squeeze on memory chips and storage driven by demand from AI hardware — a reversal of the usual pattern of consoles getting cheaper as they age.

Where outlets differ

From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:

The two reports frame the story differently: one (Polygon-style) situates the bundles within a broader industry narrative, noting that Sony and Microsoft have also raised console prices and attributing the trend to an AI-driven RAM and storage shortage; the other source omits this wider context entirely and instead focuses on a granular value comparison for the shopper.

The consumer-value source works through several purchasing scenarios — buying the console, game and online membership separately right now (before the price rise) versus waiting for the bundle, and buying a full year of Switch Online instead of the bundled 90 days — concluding that buying immediately is actually cheaper than the new bundle; the other source does not run these comparisons.

Only one source mentions that the bundles effectively replace a limited-time offer from May 2026 that let buyers pick between Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Pokopia.

Minor pricing presentation differs: one source rounds figures to whole dollars ($550, $530, $500) while the other gives exact figures ($549.99, $529.99, $499.99).

Only one source offers detail on Nintendo Switch Sports Resort's content (twelve sports, five returning, new additions such as archery and thumb wrestling); the other mentions the game only in passing.

Explained simply

Nintendo Switch 2 is the successor to the original Switch console, and Nintendo often sells it as part of "bundles" that pair the hardware with a game and sometimes extra perks, usually at a slight discount compared with buying everything separately. These bundles are a common way for console makers to encourage people to buy at launch or around key sales periods.

The console's base price in the US is rising from $450 to $500 from 1 September, a change that affects how much any bundle built around it will cost. Nintendo is a major Japanese video game company and one of the biggest players in the games industry, so pricing decisions around its hardware are closely watched by both players and investors.

This matters because console pricing shapes what people pay to access popular franchises like Mario Kart and Nintendo Switch Sports, and bundle deals are often used to soften the impact of a price rise rather than avoid it altogether.

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