Nintendo Says Tariffs Weren’t Factored Into the $450 Price of the Switch 2
by
William D’Angelo
, posted 22 minutes ago / 166 Views
Nintendo last week announced the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch for $449.99 USD, while a Mario Kart World Bundle will also be available for $499.99 USD.
Experts believed the Switch 2 costing $150 more than the original Switch did at launch is partly due to Nintendo anticipating Trump tariffs, however, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has stated that is not the case.
Bowser revealed to The Verge, “Put [the April 2nd announcement] aside. Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself.”
Later the same day, Donald Trump would announce widespread tariffs, including Vietnam and Cambodia, which will see a 46 percent and 49 percent tariff, respectively. It has been reported that over half of the hardware imported into the US from Nintendo comes from those two countries.
Nintendo would end up delaying the start date for pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 from April 9 to a later date in the US due to the potential impact of the Trump tariffs.
“Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,” reads a statement from Nintendo. “Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.”
Bowser added, “The news is fresh, and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact may be.”
He was asked as to why the Switch 2 is so expensive if tariffs and he stated the more powerful internals, bigger LCD screen, improved Joy-Con controllers, new features like GameChat, and more.
“We want to make sure that this is a device that is approachable, that consumers will see as part of their overall entertainment experiences and will understand that it has longevity to it,” he said. “And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price.”
The $449.99 price of the Switch 1 is $100 more expensive than the $349.99 price of the Switch OLED and Bowser was asked if this influenced the price.
“You want to consider pricing relative to the Switch since we still have that in distribution,” said Bowser. “But, really, the consideration was driven more by what is a part of this particular gaming experience versus what it is relative to the Switch 1.”
The Switch 2 itself isn’t the only thing that is more expensive compared to the Switch 1. The price of games has also increased with Mario Kart World costing $79.99 and Donkey Kong Bananza costing $69.99. Bowser says “each game, we believe, is a unique experience.”
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a paid tech demo rather than a free pack-in title like Wii Sports or Astro’s Playroom. Bowser states, “As this game was being developed, what’s been packed into it is a depth of minigame experiences. They’re very deep, they’re very repeatable. And so, as we looked at that depth of play experience and opportunity, we felt that $9.99 was a fair price to ask for that.”
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
More Articles
