Mario Kart World Could Have Been The First Nintendo Switch 2 Title To Start Development

Product codes for upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 titles on the official Nintendo website in Japan and other Asian regions give us a better idea on when development or planning could have started for those titles.

Since the days of the Game & Watch era, all games released on Nintendo platforms come with a product code.

For example, the product code for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is “HAC-P-AAAAA”. “HAC” is the platform code representing Nintendo Switch, and “AAAAA” is the game code representing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Before Nintendo Switch, game codes on past platforms had four characters, but now they have five as the fifth character could represent a variation of the original product (for example, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is “AABPA” and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass is “AABPK”).

Other Switch game codes include “AAABA” for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and “AAB6A” for Splatoon 2. Based on simple analysis, we can tell that development and/or planning for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild started before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and even though Super Smash Bros. Ultimate came out later, it having a game code just after Breath of the Wild indicates that development or planning started quite early on, even before Splatoon 2.

These are the product codes according to URLs on the Japanese Nintendo website, arranged in order from earliest to latest:

• Mario Kart World – BEE-P-AAAAA
• Kirby Air Riders – BEE-P-AAABA
• Donkey Kong Bananza – BEE-P-AAACA
• Drag x Drive – BEE-P-AAAQA
• Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour – BEE-P-AAHEA

Looking at these product codes, we can tell that Mario Kart World was the first Nintendo Switch 2 title to start development or planning, similar to how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild started first on Nintendo Switch.

The product code for Kirby Air Riders tells an interesting story – it seems to have started development or planning just before Donkey Kong Bananza, but Donkey Kong Bananza is releasing before Kirby Air Riders. It’s also worth noting that Nintendo seems to have a habit of greenlighting games directed by Masahiro Sakurai very early on, considering that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Kirby Air Riders both share the same “AAABA” game code.

While Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is launching on June 5, Drag x Drive, slated for a summer release, seems to have been in the plans before Welcome Tour was conceived.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.