Nintendo, the gaming giant, has announced a price hike for its next-generation console, Switch 2, in major markets worldwide, citing rising component costs.
The price adjustment affects the US, Europe, Canada, and Japan. According to the official announcement, the Switch 2 will retail for $499.99 in the US, up from $449.99, a $50 increase, equivalent to approximately 340.8 yuan. The European market will also see a price hike, from 469.99 euros to 499.99 euros, a 30-euro increase. In Canada, the price will rise from 629.99 Canadian dollars to 679.99 Canadian dollars, a 50-dollar increase.
In Japan, the price hike will take effect on May 25, with the Switch 2 Japanese version domestic model increasing from 49,980 yen to 59,980 yen, a 10,000-yen increase, equivalent to approximately 434.9 yuan. The multilingual version will rise from 69,980 yen to 79,980 yen.
Notably, the price hike is not limited to new consoles. In Japan, the prices of the original Switch, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite will also increase, along with the Nintendo Switch Online membership service.
Nintendo attributed the price hike to “changes in the market environment,” specifically the surge in demand for memory chips due to the global AI data center construction boom, leading to a significant increase in the cost of memory components used in the Switch 2. Additionally, the company will face a cost impact of approximately 100 billion yen (approximately 637.8 million US dollars) due to tariffs.
Alongside the price hike, Nintendo has also revised its sales forecast for the Switch 2. According to the company’s latest financial data, as of March 31, 2026, the Switch 2 has sold 19.86 million units, with software sales reaching 48.71 million copies. Notably, first-party titles such as “Mario Kart World” and “Donkey Kong Jungle Beat” have performed well, with sales of 14.7 million and 4.52 million copies, respectively, driving hardware sales growth.
In April, the Switch 2 led the global market with sales of 1.765 million units. However, due to the price hike, Nintendo now expects sales to decline to 16.5 million units in the fiscal year ending March 2027, a 16.9% decrease from the previous year. The company also forecasts a decline in net sales and net profit.
On the same day, Sony, another gaming giant, released its annual financial report, predicting a decline in game console sales for the fiscal year 2026. Sony’s net profit plummeted 63% to 83.12 billion yen in the quarter ending March, while revenue grew 8.3% to 3.036 trillion yen.
Sony’s hardware sales were sluggish, with PS5 console sales reaching 16 million units in the fiscal year 2025, a 14% decrease from the previous year. The company’s game and network services segment, which includes the PlayStation business, remained the main source of revenue, with sales of approximately 4.26 trillion yen, a 6% increase from the previous year.
The gaming industry is facing multiple challenges, including supply chain cost pressures and declining market demand. The prices of key components such as memory and advanced process chips are being driven up by strong demand from larger industries like AI and high-performance computing, leading to increased production costs for game consoles.
Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, commented that Nintendo’s challenges have been brewing for months, and the impact of component costs is severe. Typically, console sales increase naturally in the second year after launch, but this time, they may decline instead.
