Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said on May 8 that the company will consider hiking the cost of Switch 2 after the console launches. The gaming company said it would raise prices if U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs worsened.
Nintendo gamers were expected to begin pre-ordering the Switch 2 on April 9, but the firm changed the date to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.
Nintendo plans to raise the Switch 2 post-launch price
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa on tariffs affecting Switch 2 price:
“If the assumption of tariffs changes significantly, we will consider and implement any price adjustments after taking multiple aspects into account.” pic.twitter.com/OxDRls107O
— Croc Oclock (@CrocOclock) May 8, 2025
The Switch 2 was set to launch on June 5, with the original starting price at $450, the company is now considering raising the price depending on how the global trade war turns out. The President announced sweeping tariffs on the same day as the Switch 2 reveal, which raised concerns in the gaming company.
Trump’s tariffs would have affected Japan and Vietnam, where Nintendo is based and the country where the Switch 2 is being manufactured, respectively. Trump changed his mind after the tariffs took effect and authorized a 90-day pause and a lowered reciprocal tariff during the same period.
The Japanese multinational video game company said it was relieved since the tariffs on Vietnam would have been 46% while Japan’s tariffs were 24%. The company must now contend with the 10% tariff imposed on all countries. The firm argued that the pause doesn’t guarantee that it will not raise the price of Switch 2. Nintendo said on Wednesday it may end up raising prices if the tariffs go back into effect after the 90-day pause.
“At the time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware. If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider the price adjustments we should make and implement them after considering various factors.”
-Shuntaro Furukawa, President at Nintendo.
Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter believes Switch 2 will be priced at $450 at launch on June 5. He argued that if the U.S. applies hefty levies to products made in Vietnam and sold by Japan, like the Switch 2, Nintendo of Japan should ship the consoles to Nintendo of America at the minimum cost of the console to pay the lowest tariffs possible.
Patcher expects the price hike to be around $75-$100, which would put the price of Switch 2 after tariffs in the $525 to $550 range. Ampere Analysis research director Piers Harding-Rolls also believes Switch 2’s price will rise in the same price range. DFC Intelligence CEO David Cole told Forbes Tuesday that he expects the price to increase, but not that much, as he believes the $450 starting price could cover tariffs.
Nintendo predicts Switch 2 will outsell its predecessor at launch
During the Switch 2 reveal on April 2, Nintendo did not reveal the price, making everyone interested to visit the site and see the starting price of $450 and the bundle with Mario Kart World for $500. Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser acknowledged that the price makes the Switch 2 the most expensive Nintendo console at launch without factoring in inflation. Bowser also said the $450 price tag was appropriate for the console’s value but also urged those who can’t afford it to consider the other Switch platforms.
The gaming company said it expects to sell another 4.5M units of its original Switch this year despite the impending launch of the new console. Hardware sales for the original Switch console are down 31.2% year-on-year, while software sales plummeted 22.2% year-on-year.
The Japanese multinational video game company also forecasted 15 million sales of its Switch 2 over the remainder of 2025. The firm’s latest financial report showed that it expects 15 million consoles and 45 million software sales.
The company’s boss said it didn’t have Switch 2 stock in April to meet customer demand in Japan. Furukawa noted that around 2.2 million people had applied to buy a Switch 2 via the My Nintendo Store as part of a lottery process. Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy firm Katana Games, called the amount of interest in the console “ridiculous.”
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