Well, guys, it finally happened, one of the last pricing pulled out had to finally give out to the inevitability of the AI boom and concede to a price hike, that being Nintendo. The $450 Switch 2, notably more expensive out of the gate than its predecessor, still maintained its price amongst US tariffs (Let’s be honest, they may have said that price with tariffs in mind already), and this far through the AI boom after the two other large companies already adjusted their prices to reflect both.
What was once a $450 console is now $500. But it’s not really just that simple, because we are also seeing a price increase to the original Switch console in Japan, an increase in price to the Japanese language locked version, Nintendo Switch Online, and Hanafuda Cards (Absolute tragedy). This update is Japan-centric, but is bundled with global price change announcements.
Considering Nintendo’s new approach to variable pricing, that is, seeing the cost of digital games go down, maybe we are seeing smaller prices in Nintendo first party titles to soften the blow of your $500 Mario machine.
Here is the full breakdown from Nintendo regarding consoles:
| Nintendo Switch 2 | Current Price | Revised Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch 2 Japanese-Language System (Japan Only) | ¥49,980 | ¥59,980 |
*The price of the Nintendo Switch 2 Multi-Language System available from My Nintendo Store will remain unchanged.
| Nintendo Switch | Current Price | Revised Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch（OLED Model） | ¥37,980 | ¥47,980 |
| Nintendo Switch | ¥32,978 | ¥43,980 |
| Nintendo Switch Lite | ¥21,978 | ¥29,980 |
Effective Date of MSRP Revisions in Japan: May 25, 2026
Given that the impact of various changes in market conditions is expected to extend over the medium to long term, price revisions are also planned outside Japan as described below.
| United States | Current Price | Revised Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch 2 | $449.99 | $499.99 |
*Prices shown do not include tax.
| Canada | Current Price | Revised Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch 2 | $629.99 | $679.99 |
*Prices shown do not include tax.
| Europe | Current Price on My Nintendo Store | Revised Price on My Nintendo Store |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch 2 | €469.99 | €499.99 |
*Prices shown include tax.
Prices will be in effect September 1st, 2026
Funnily enough, the Switch 1 console price is rising in just Japan. The cost is probably subsidized by its previous price increase due to US tariffs that have already been ruled as illegal. So it’s basically exchanging one price hike reason for another. The price of accessories hasn’t decreased, though. Yet (They won’t).
While the announcement is centered around Japan, Switch Online prices are also rising globally. Here is that breakdown with a conversion to USD:
Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online is offered as a globally unified service, and pricing will be revised to support appropriate alignment among regions. In Japan, prices will be revised as follows.
| Nintendo Switch Online | Current Price | Revised Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual membership | 1 month | ¥306 | ¥400 ($2.55) |
| 3 months | ¥815 | ¥1,000 ($6.38) | |
| 12 months | ¥2,400 | ¥3,000 ($19.14) | |
| Family membership | 12 months | ¥4,500 | ¥5,800 ($37.00) |
| Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack | Current Price | Revised Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual membership | 12 months | ¥4,900 | ¥5,900 ($37.64) |
| Family membership | 12 months | ¥8,900 | ¥9,900 ($63.16) |
Date of price change in Japan: July 1st, 2026
Switch Online + Expansion pack for one person is $50 in the US, so I would expect it to go up to $60, and proportionally across the other tiers.
What Does This all Mean?
Elaborating more on Nintendo’s variable pricing model and cheaper digital games, at the time of the announcement, we only had Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on the horizon to compare with its $60 digital and $70 physical. With Splatoon Raiders and the recently announced Star Fox reboot being $60 and $50 for the physical and digital, respectively, it seems that these cheaper first-party titles could make up for a $50 price increase.
Nintendo has come under a lot of fire due to their aggressive EULA, Key Cards, their aggressive IP protection, and game pricing, but it’s clear they made a solid effort to delay this increase as long as possible, with hopes the market would even itself out. In the meantime, Valve appears to be the last major holdout for the pricing of their Steam Deck, which is also still sold out at this time. Time will tell, and our wallets will be ready regardless. But Nintendo? Where is my tariff refund?
