One of the last unanswered questions we had before the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct earlier this month was how Nintendo planned to upgrade old games for the new hardware. The answer is Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade packs, which enhance the game with improved visuals and new features. And now we know how much we’ll be paying for them.
As it turns out, not all Switch 2 Edition upgrade packs will cost the same amount of money. This week, Nintendo added listings for the first few upgrade packs to the My Nintendo Store, and we were surprised to see that some will cost as much as $20.
Here’s the full list of upgrade packs and prices currently on the My Nintendo Store:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Upgrade Pack – $9.99
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Upgrade Pack – $9.99
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII | Upgrade Pack – $9.99
- STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar | Upgrade Pack – $10.00
- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | Upgrade Pack – $10.00
- Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV | Upgrade Pack – $19.99
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World | Upgrade Pack – $19.99
You might notice that the two $20 listings include additional content that wasn’t available in the base game. Kirby and the Forgotten Land includes a brand new story, while Super Mario Party Jamboree features fresh minigames that take advantage of the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, the built-in mic, and the ability to plug in a USB-C camera.
It’s still somewhat disappointing that Nintendo is charging customers to bring their old games up to speed with the souped-up hardware, but these are also optional upgrades. You can still play a vast majority of Switch 1 games on the Switch 2, you just won’t see much of a difference when it comes to the visuals or features without an upgrade pack.
That said, Nintendo has also committed to releasing free updates for select Switch games that may improve their performance or add support for new features. Some of those games include Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and ARMS.
