Nintendo is “Actively Assessing” The Impact of US Tariffs on Switch 2 Pricing

After Nintendo delayed US Switch 2 pre-orders last week due to the uncertainty caused by the new US tariffs, Doug Bowser, the President of Nintendo of America, gave multiple interviews to discuss the current economic situation and the company’s pricing strategy. And it does like the Switch 2’s $450 US launch price could change.

Speaking with Wired, Bowser said that the US tariffs “weren’t factored into the pricing” of the Switch 2, and that the company is “actively assessing” the situation. “It’s something we’re going to have to address,” the exec added.

At the moment, the Nintendo Switch 2 is already $150 more expensive than the original Switch. It also matches the price of Microsoft’s all-digital Xbox Series X, while Sony’s PS5 Slim remains $50 more expensive with a $499.99 starting price.

In a separate interview with the Washington Post, Bowser said that Nintendo will continue to support the original Switch and has no plans to drop its price. “We’ll continue to keep Nintendo Switch as part of the family, giving consumers a number of different entry points into the gaming universe,” the exec said, adding that new games will continue to be released on the eight-year-old console.

In that same interview, Bowser also addressed the controversy regarding the $80 price tag for Mario Kart World, the console’s flagship launch title. However, the Nintendo US President suggested that $80 isn’t going to become the new standard for first-party Switch 2 games, pointing out that the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza will be priced at $70.

“What you see right there is variable pricing,” Bowser told The Washington Post. “We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences. Those are all factors, and there’s many more that go into consideration of what is the right price point for the game. So I think you can anticipate that there will be variable pricing, and we haven’t set a benchmark,” the exec said.

If $80 games have started to appear on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S during this new console generation, hardware and software price hikes may be harder to swallow for Nintendo customers attracted by the company’s “family-friendly” reputation. It also doesn’t help that Nintendo will charge $10 for its “Welcome Tour” Switch 2 tutorial and make the console’s new social features only available via its Nintendo Switch Online premium subscription.

It remains to be seen if the US tariffs will make the Switch 2 even pricier in the US, but the company probably wasn’t very comfortable with the console $450 price tag in the first place. If you watch last week’s official Switch 2 presentation, Nintendo purposefully kept the console’s pricing information out of its hour-long presentation.