In today’s FY26 earnings report, Nintendo delivered the news no one on the fence wanted to hear. The Switch 2 is jumping from $450 to $500. The change hits the US, Canada, and Europe in early September. The Japanese home market will feel the sting even earlier on May 25, with the console jumping by ¥10,000 to ¥59,980. Japanese players will also see price bumps on older Switch models and Switch Online subscriptions.
The company wraps the decision in standard PR phrasing, citing “changes in market conditions” and a shifting “global business outlook” in their official press release, but the underlying numbers are brutal. Nintendo is taking a massive hit on hardware. Surging production costs and US trade tariffs are hammering the bottom line, with the company estimating that hardware costs alone will eat up around ¥100 billion (roughly $640 million) of their earnings in the next financial year. Analysts have been expecting a price correction for months, noting that a $50 hike is actually on the lower end of what the market feared.
The Switch 2 just capped off a massive first year with nearly 20 million units sold, but Nintendo is already bracing for a slowdown. Their forecast for the upcoming year has been dialed back to 16.5 million consoles. Investors might be getting what they want with higher margins per box, but Nintendo knows exactly what this means: the new price tag is going to cost them momentum.
Published: May 14, 2026 08:13 am