Nintendo games rarely go on sale. That's practically a law of nature. So when players started noticing Switch 2 titles dropping to $29.97 at Costco this weekend, the deals subreddit chatter turned into a full-on scramble.
The sale covers some of the bigger Switch 2 releases from the past year, including Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond , all normally priced at $70. That's more than 57% off, which is essentially unheard of for Nintendo software at this age.
How the sale surfaced
Word first spread through the Switch 2 subreddit on the night of April 17, with players noticing the discounted prices showing up inside the Costco app. The catch early on: the in-store systems hadn't caught up yet, so shoppers were still being charged full price at the register. A handful of people managed to get manual overrides from staff, but it was hit or miss.
By Saturday, April 18, Wario64 confirmed on X that the $29.97 price was going through at checkout without any override needed. That's when the post went wide and the rush really started.
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Stock varies heavily by location. Reports suggest Kirby Air Riders has solid availability at many stores, while Pokémon Legends: Z-A inventory is running thin fast. Check the Costco app before making the trip.
What's actually on sale and what's not
The sale appears to apply to physical copies of recent Switch 2 releases that Costco already had in stock. The selection isn't uniform across every warehouse location, which is standard for Costco's inventory model. Here's a quick breakdown of what players have confirmed:
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A at $29.97 (normally $70)
- Kirby Air Riders at $29.97 (normally $70)
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond at $29.97 (normally $70)
There's no official announcement from Costco or Nintendo about the sale, and no end date has been communicated. That's the nature of Costco promotions: they appear, they disappear, and you either caught it or you didn't.
Reading the tea leaves on why this is happening
Some players online have been quick to read the discounts as a signal that these games sold poorly. The Pokémon argument falls flat immediately given the franchise's track record, but it's a fair point that Metroid Prime 4 and Kirby Air Riders didn't exactly dominate sales charts. The Switch 2 also had a noticeably rough holiday season in the U.S. relative to past Nintendo console launches and analyst projections.
The more straightforward explanation is that this is just Costco doing what Costco does. The wholesale chain regularly runs unannounced markdowns on physical media to move inventory, and a spring weekend is a perfectly reasonable time to pull families in with a half-price video game sitting next to the bulk snack aisle.
Nintendo hasn't commented, and Costco hasn't made any public statement about the sale.
The window is probably short
Here's the thing with Costco sales like this: they're inventory-dependent, not time-dependent. Once the stock is gone, the deal is gone. There's no restock coming at the sale price. Players who already grabbed copies are posting receipts on X, and the r/Switch2 thread is filling up with both success stories and reports of empty shelves.
If you've been sitting on the fence about any of these titles, this is a real and genuinely rare opportunity to pick up Nintendo software at a price that doesn't feel like highway robbery. Check the latest gaming news for any updates if the sale expands to other titles.
For anyone planning a run this weekend, the Costco app is your best first move to confirm local stock before driving out. Inventory for the more popular titles, especially Pokémon, is reportedly thinning fast across multiple regions. Keep an eye on our gaming guides for any further developments on Switch 2 deals and releases as they come in.
