Nintendo has confirmed that the US tariffs, which were introduced on the same day as the Switch 2 event last week, were “not factored” into the $449.99 price tag.
Speaking to The Verge, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said Nintendo is “actively assessing what the impact may be.”
As a result of the tariffs, Nintendo delayed US pre-orders of the console from its original date of April 9, 2025. The launch date of the Switch 2 (June 5) remains the same.
As for why the Switch 2 is priced at $449.99, Bowser highlighted the “longevity” of the new console as a driving factor.
“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 explained. “And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price.”
Bowser noted the console’s new hardware, including a larger LCD display, that the Joy-Cons have been “enlarged and redesigned for durability,” and its custom Nvidia processor that enables ray tracing.
“You want to consider pricing relative to the Switch since we still have that in distribution. But, really, the consideration was driven much more by what is part of this particular experience versus what is relative to the Switch 1.”
Bowser also touched upon the price point of Switch 2 games, noting that Nintendo’s approach is that each title is a “unique experience” which will be priced based on its content.
This is why Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a game designed to introduce players to the console, is a paid title rather than a free experience.
“As this game was being developed, what’s been packed into it is a depth of minigame experiences,” he said. “They’re very deep, they’re very repeatable. And so, we looked at that depth of play experience and opportunity, we felt that $9.99 was a fair price to ask for that.”
The Switch 2’s flagship title, Mario Kart World, retails at $80 – much more than consumers are used to paying for Nintendo games.
GamesIndustry.biz spoke to analysts about why Switch 2 prices are so high and how inflation and other factors may have resulted in this decision.
During an interview with IGN, Nintendo of America’s vice president of product and player experience Bill Trinen echoed Bowser’s sentiment on games being priced based on the content they provide.
“I would say it’s less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, what’s the content, and what’s the value,” Trinen said.