Following the price hike for the Nintendo Switch 2 announced last week, company president Shuntaro Furukawa has apologized to Nintendo customers. As caught by Nintendo Everything, in a statement during a recent financial results briefing, Furukawa also said that Nintendo plans to make the Switch 2 more appealing by preparing “a robust software lineup”.
The reason behind the price hike largely comes down to how expensive continued production of the Nintendo Switch 2 is getting. Along with trade tariffs, the company has also had to contend with rising RAM costs due to a global shortage of memory. Furukawa noted that, while the company wanted to keep the price as low as possible to “prioritize a wide adoption,” it was turning out to be financially untenable.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the considerable inconvenience and trouble this will cause,” said Furukawa about the price hike. “While we wanted to prioritize a wide adoption, it was challenging to bear the rising costs over a long period. The [new] pricing does not fully account for all cost increases.”
In another statement, Furukawa also explained the reasoning behind Nintendo’s lower forecasts for the Nintendo Switch 2 sales moving forward. He said that the first-year sales of the consoles were “unprecedented” thanks to the company’s work to ensure its supply chains remained strong. However, despite the demand remaining strong, second-year sales of the Switch 2 may not hit the heights that it did in its first year.
“Due to efforts to strengthen our supply chain […] the 1st year sales reached an unprecedented level,” he explained. “The demand in the 2nd year is firm, and we believe that the adoption of Switch 2 is progressing smoothly.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting price hikes by around $50 across all regions, and will apply from September 1st onwards. Originally priced at $449.99/$629.99 CAD/€469.99 in the US, Canada, and Europe, respectively, it will now be priced at $499.99/$679.99 CAD/€499.99. The Japanese-language SKU of the Switch 2, originally priced at ¥49,980, is also getting a higher price tag at ¥59,980 from May 25th onwards.
The Switch 2 isn’t the only console in Nintendo’s line-up being affected. The OLED model of the original Switch is going up from ¥37,980 to ¥47,980 in Japan, and the regular Switch will go up from ¥32,978 to ¥43,980. The handheld-only Nintendo Switch Lite is going up from ¥21,978 to ¥29,980. On the services side of things, starting from July 1st, the Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership will cost ¥400, ¥1,00 for three months, and ¥3,000 for a yearly subscription, up from ¥306/¥815/¥2,400 respectively. The Family plan is also getting a hike, from ¥4,500 to ¥5,800.
As for some good news, Nintendo has reported that it has sold almost 20 million units of the Nintendo Switch 2 as of March 31st, 2026, with the last three months accounting for 2.49 million units. The company has also confirmed that Pokémon Pokopia has sold more than 4 million copies. Overall software sales for Nintendo’s newest console have reached 10.78 million units.
