Nintendo fans have been suffering from sticker shock since the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 console was finally revealed.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to cost $449.99 when it launches on June 5, a $150 increase over the original Switch.
Since the announcement last week, there has been speculation that the higher price is partly due to President Donald Trump's tariffs. Though the price was announced on the same day that Trump revealed his reciprocal tariffs, a wide-ranging increase for hundreds of countries and locations across the globe.
However, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser told The Verge that planned or reciprocal tariffs did not affect the price.
"Put (April 2 Nintendo Direct) aside. Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself," he said.
It should be noted that the Nintendo Switch 2 consoles currently in the United States were reportedly made in Vietnam, a move that was allegedly done to avoid current tariffs against China and ones expected to come from the Trump administration.
Additionally, tariffs may not have factored into the original price, but they may affect the price in the future. It was expected that the Switch 2 would be available for preordering on Wednesday, April 9. However, on Friday last week, Nintendo announced it was delaying Switch 2 pre-orders. This was done to "assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions."
As of this writing, we have not seen a new preorder date or whether or not the price will change.
“The news is fresh, and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact may be,” Bowser told The Verge.
Why is the Switch 2 more expensive?
According to Bowser, Switch 2 upgrades are partly to blame for the higher cost, including the bigger LCD, the new GameChat social features, redesigned Joy-Con controllers, and more powerful internal chips.
"We want to make sure that this is a device that is approachable, that consumers will see as part of their overall entertainment experiences and will understand that it has longevity to it,” Bowser said. “And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price.”
He said that Nintendo is also considering the cost compared to the original Switch, and possibly versus other new handhelds like the Steam Deck OLED.
Everything is more expensive
To say fans are displeased is an understatement. During two separate livestreams on Thursday and Friday last week, the live comment section was inundated with repeated calls to "Drop the price."
We have seen comments elsewhere that some fans are okay with the more expensive console, but the bite is coming from the more expensive games.
Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, which will launch with the console or soon after, are supposed to have $80 price tags, at least $20 more than similar games for the original Switch.
Plus, the company is charging $9.99 for Astro's Playroom-esque Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which seems like a mistake.
"As this game was being developed, what’s been packed into it is a depth of minigame experiences,” Bowser says. “They’re very deep, they’re very repeatable. And so, as we looked at that depth of play experience and opportunity, we felt that $9.99 was a fair price to ask for that.”
We'll be curious to see if Switch 2 buyers feel the same way.
Outlook
Depending on what happens with the pre-orders, Nintendo will probably sell a lot of Switch 2 consoles.
Pre-orders in the UK haven't been delayed and have already sold out. If the April 9 pre-orders were available, US customers would likely have snapped up the available stock.
The question comes after the launch bubble. Will people want or be able to pay the higher price later, like during the 2025 holiday season or next year, when people aren't as excited for the console?
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