Three-quarters off the original asking price
In the waning days of July 2022, Nintendo opened a brief but generous window for Switch owners to deepen their relationship with shared play — offering discounts of up to 80% across dozens of multiplayer titles through August 7. The gesture was less a clearance sale than a philosophical statement: that games are most alive when experienced together, and that the barriers to that experience are worth lowering. In a moment when multiplayer had become the dominant grammar of console gaming, Nintendo was quietly expanding who could afford to speak it.
- Nintendo slashed prices on dozens of Switch multiplayer titles by as much as 80%, turning premium $60 games like DOOM Eternal and NBA 2K22 into $15 impulse purchases.
- The sale wasn't random — it was a curated argument for the Switch as a social platform, spanning competitive shooters, cozy party games, and beloved franchises all at once.
- Mid-tier cuts of 30–60% brought titles like Super Mario Party, Monster Hunter Rise, Sonic Mania, and Among Us within reach of players who had been sitting on the fence.
- The window was narrow — closing at 11:59 PM PT on August 7 — creating real urgency for Switch owners with crowded wishlists and limited budgets.
- The promotion landed as a confidence move from Nintendo, signaling that the five-year-old Switch still had cultural momentum and a library worth investing in.
Nintendo launched a sweeping multiplayer sale across its Switch digital storefront in late July 2022, with discounts ranging from 20% to 75% off dozens of titles — all expiring at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 7. The timing was deliberate: multiplayer gaming had become the dominant draw for console owners, and Nintendo was moving to meet that appetite with a curated selection rather than a clearance rack.
The sharpest cuts went to two flagship titles. DOOM Eternal and NBA 2K22 each dropped from $60 to $15 — a three-quarters reduction that was hard to ignore. These weren't forgotten releases; they were showcase titles that demonstrated what the Switch could do under pressure.
The sale extended well beyond those anchors. Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2 both fell to half price. Sonic Mania, Crash Team Racing, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, and Dead by Daylight all dropped 60%. Super Mario Party — Nintendo's long-running standard-bearer for social gaming — came down 30% to $42. Hyrule Warriors, Clubhouse Games, Snipperclips, and Among Us joined it at the same discount.
The breadth of the selection made the intent clear: Nintendo wasn't offloading problem inventory. It was making a statement about what multiplayer meant on its platform — that it stretched from brutal shooters to cozy living room games, from licensed sports to Nintendo's own beloved franchises. For Switch owners with a wishlist and a deadline, the window was narrow but hard to pass up.
Nintendo opened its digital storefront to a sweeping multiplayer sale in late July, slashing prices across dozens of Switch titles through the first week of August. The discounts ranged from modest cuts of 20 percent all the way up to 75 percent off some of the platform's most recognizable names, a window that closed at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 7.
The timing reflected a shift in how people were playing games. Multiplayer titles had become the dominant draw for console owners, and Nintendo was moving to capitalize on that appetite. The sale wasn't a clearance of aging inventory—it was a curated selection of games the company wanted players to experience together, whether online or on the same couch.
The deepest discounts went to two heavyweight titles. DOOM Eternal, the brutal first-person shooter, dropped from $60 to $15. NBA 2K22, the annual basketball simulation, hit the same price point. Both represented the kind of aggressive markdown that catches attention: three-quarters off the original asking price. These weren't niche releases or forgotten games. They were the sort of titles that defined what the Switch could do when pushed.
But the sale extended far beyond those two anchors. Monster Hunter Rise and its sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruins, both fell to half price. Sonic Mania, the beloved return to the hedgehog's 2D roots, joined them at 50 percent off. Crash Team Racing, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, and Dead by Daylight all dropped 60 percent. Super Mario Party—the Mario-branded take on the party game formula that had defined Nintendo's social gaming for decades—sold for $42 instead of its usual $60, a 30 percent reduction.
Other recognizable names appeared at the same 30 percent discount: Hyrule Warriors, Clubhouse Games, Snipperclips, and Among Us. The breadth suggested Nintendo wasn't trying to move specific problem inventory. Instead, the company was making a statement about what multiplayer gaming meant on its platform—that it encompassed everything from competitive shooters to cozy party games, from licensed sports to Nintendo's own franchises.
The five-year-old Switch had lost none of its cultural momentum, and Nintendo was banking on that. The company had more games coming later in the year, but this sale wasn't about clearing the shelves for what was next. It was about deepening the installed base's investment in the platform itself, about giving players a reason to fill their libraries with the kinds of games that worked best when others were in the room or on the other end of a connection. For Switch owners with a backlog of wishlist items, the window was narrow but generous.
Notable Quotes
The sale encompassed everything from competitive shooters to cozy party games, from licensed sports to Nintendo's own franchises.— Nintendo's multiplayer sale strategy
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Nintendo time this sale for late July? Was there something specific happening then?
The sale ran through early August, which is typically a slower period for new releases. It's a window where Nintendo could draw attention without competing against major launches. But more importantly, it was about multiplayer games specifically—that's where the energy was in gaming culture.
The discounts are wild on some of these. Seventy-five percent off DOOM Eternal? That's not a small markdown.
Right. That's the kind of price that makes someone who's been on the fence actually buy. DOOM Eternal is a $60 game at full price. At $15, it becomes an impulse purchase for a lot of people. Nintendo was trying to move volume, not protect margin.
But they included Super Mario Party at only 30 percent off. Why the difference?
Because Super Mario Party is a Nintendo game, and Nintendo doesn't need to discount its own franchises as aggressively. The deeper cuts went to third-party titles and licensed games—things like NBA 2K22, which is expensive to license anyway. Nintendo's own games hold their value better.
Was this sale unusual for Nintendo, or do they do this kind of thing regularly?
Nintendo does seasonal sales, but the depth here—especially on those flagship titles—was notable. It signals they were serious about getting multiplayer games into more hands during that specific window.
What does it say about the Switch's position in the market at that point?
The Switch was five years old by then, which is mature for a console. But it wasn't showing signs of age. Nintendo was still confident enough to invest in driving adoption of existing games rather than just pushing new releases. That's a sign of a platform in good health.