Nintendo find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
Following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct presentation on Wednesday there was plenty to talk about — be it the hardware, specs, or broad software line-up — however, there's one thing that's truly dominated the conversation, and that's price, price, price.
Yes, the Nintendo Switch 2, by and large, costs more than the expected consensus had suggested. The figure floating around online for the past several months was a $399 entry point. Wishcasting? Guesstimate? Whatever. We now know that’s not the case, with the improved hybrid starting at a $449 sticker price — a fair bit higher than what was realistically expected.
It’s increasingly clear that setting the Switch 2 price, particularly for the U.S. market, has been less a fixed decision for Nintendo and more of a frustrating moving target, buffeted by strong political winds.
During the pre-recorded Direct that aired Wednesday, any mention of price was conspicuously absent. Nintendo made no reference to what their long-awaited new machine, arriving in just two months, would cost. Not a single word.
This was an entirely sensible, if frustrating, decision — a deliberate choice to avoid publicly stating a hardware price in what has become a rather delicate and ever-changing political situation. Confirming a price point and setting it in stone isn’t particularly easy when there’s uncertainty around what it will actually cost Nintendo to manufacture the device. Setting a price and then having to change it later? Even worse.
Rory Mellon
Nintendo has a long history of pricing its machines with healthy margins — not taking a loss on hardware like some of its rivals. So the unpredictability of the tariffs being introduced by the U.S. administration represents a major spanner in the (no-doubt meticulous) Switch 2 launch plans.
Recent U.S. tariffs of roughly 54% on Chinese imports and 24% on Japanese goods make confirming a price point — and sticking to it — extremely difficult. Nintendo wants those favourable margins, and it’s clear they’re not about to sacrifice them for the benefit of the consumer. No, we’re all going to be paying more.
I do feel for Nintendo in this regard. They needed to move forward with their launch plans, but this frustrating political moment will, without doubt, take the sheen off the reveal and leave a lingering bad taste for many who would otherwise be excited about what looks like a compelling upgrade.
However, my compassion only extends to the hardware side of the story — software pricing is another matter entirely, and one not so clearly linked to tariffs or supply chain woes.
The lack of pricing in the Direct, followed by no clear cost breakdown online, made a messy situation worse. There was no obvious place to go after the Direct to get informed on what the wallet-busting reality would be.
We now know, of course. The hardware is going to cost a pretty penny, and those Switch 2 games carry a heftier price tag too.
Yes, broadly speaking, gaming software has been pretty much inflation-proof, so price increases were bound to happen eventually. Sony nudged things higher with the introduction of the PS5, and now Nintendo is following suit. It is what it is, but taken alongside the unavoidable stink on the hardware side, it doesn’t paint the rosiest picture for Nintendo as they head into launch.
They’ve had a tough time getting the messaging right, and it looks like the confusion — chiefly for those in the U.S. — is, sadly, set to continue for a while yet. But any tough time for Nintendo is nothing compared to the beating consumers’ wallets are about to take come June.
Mario Kart World best be worth it.
