- Analysts have offered multiple theories as to why the Nintendo Switch 2 costs so much in the United States
- One says it could be a “strategic balancing act” due to the recent increase in tariffs
- The Switch 2 costs less in Japan, and the main reason could be the importance of Nintendo’s Japanese market
The Nintendo Switch 2’s divisive price has finally been revealed, but analysts say that there’s a strategic reason Nintendo priced the console higher in the United States.
It wasn’t until after the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct finished airing that we learned that the new console would cost $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for the Mario Kart World bundle. The expensive pricing wasn’t a total shock, and according to several analysts who spoke to IGN, there are multiple contributing factors as to why.
Joost van Dreunen, professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author behind the book One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games, called the pricing a “strategic balancing act”, and is partly due to the recent increase in tariffs and manufacturing costs.
Regarding these new tariffs, which US President Donald Trump announced following the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal, Dreunen says that Nintendo “appears to be building in a buffer against these potential trade barriers.”
Piers Harding-Rolls, an industry analyst at Ampere Analysis, also wasn’t surprised by the $450 cost and compared it to the Switch OLED’s $350 asking price, but speculated that the reason why Nintendo didn’t reveal the price during the Direct was due to the ongoing changes in the US market.
“My view is that they probably had a range of pricing for the US market in play up until the last minute due to the uncertainty on import tariffs,” Harding-Rolls said.
Another analyst, Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, also suggested that Sony and its recent PS5 Pro launch could have played a part in the Switch 2 pricing, saying, “Nintendo probably factored in possible tariffs, the current inflationary climate in the world and the US$700 Sony dared to charge for the PlayStation 5 Pro last year.”
In Japan, Nintendo is releasing a Japanese language-locked Switch 2 that costs $333.22 (49,980 yen), which is notably $110 cheaper than the console in the US, as well as a multi-language system at $466.56 (69,980 yen).
According to Omidia analyst James McWhirter, the main reason could be the importance of Nintendo’s Japanese market, which “accounts for a quarter (24%) of the Nintendo Switch installed base in 2024”, and that if pricing aligned with the US, it would “weaken” the company’s position in the country.
“If Switch 2 pricing in Japanese Yen was aligned with the US Dollar price, it would dramatically weaken Nintendo’s position in Japan, representing a doubling in the list price over the classic LCD Nintendo Switch model.”
McWhirter also notes, however, that if Nintendo continued to rely on region-specific pricing significantly cheaper in USD terms, “they would face an issue with grey imports to other territories”, and suggests that selling a multi-language console for a more expensive price can “protect the Japanese market from grey imports from other territories”.
“Smart considering there are no other major console markets with a not insignificant number of people proficient in the Japanese language,” he said.
The Nintendo Switch 2 will launch on June 5, 2025, with preorders scheduled to open on April 8.
TechRadar Gaming attended an exclusive hands-on preview and spent four hours testing out the Nintendo Switch 2.
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