Why Is the Nintendo Switch 2 So Expensive?

ABLUpdated 5 days Ago3 Mins read2

Wahoo! It’s happening! Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 was a splashy affair confirming what many had long suspected: a technologically beefier Switch capable of running shiny, all-new titles like Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4, and — music to the ears of gaming masochists across the world — what looks like a pseudo-sequel to FromSoftware’s cult action-RPG, Bloodborne.

Yet details of the price were conspicuously absent from the Nintendo Direct livestream announcing the new tech, and subsequently released by Nintendo in a manner that didn’t exactly scream confidence: quietly via a press release.

The price for the base console is $449.99, making it the most expensive Nintendo console ever — even when adjusted for inflation. Only an NES Deluxe Set bundle released in 1985 with the company’s entry into the U.S. market would beat the Switch 2, setting a young gamer(’s parents) back $525.44 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Nintendo is also releasing a console bundle with Mario Kart World alongside the Switch 2 for a cool $499.99. We also learned that some first-party Nintendo games, like Mario Kart World, are set to cost $79.99, thus raising the previous upper limit of premium console games by a full $10. (That also means you’ll save $30 on the Mario Kart World bundle — historically Nintendo’s bundles haven’t always included a discount.) Naturally, hardcore fans aired their anger in public fashion: through the chat of Nintendo’s online presentations — a blur of spam calling for the Japanese gaming giant to “DROP THE PRICE.”

So why is the Switch 2 so expensive? Well, quelle surprise, a big factor, as per Nintendo, is the inflationary times we live in. Inflation is driving the price up of almost everything, from the cost of eggs to semiconductor chips, despite salaries broadly failing to keep pace. Game consoles, like smartphones, are intensely complicated assemblages of materials with dizzyingly long supply chains. There are a lot of pressure points where prices could be raised by third parties. Of course, Nintendo (whose market cap sits just above $80 billion USD) can choose to either absorb these costs or pass them on to the consumer. It seems to have opted, at least in part, for the latter.

And of course, for those of us in the U.S., Trump’s tariffs continue to cast uncertainty over the Switch 2. We still can’t preorder it, unlike early adopters in the U.K. and Europe who have been able to do so since April 9. Nintendo continues to stick to the statement it released on April 4: The company needs to “assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions” before preorders can begin.

It’s not entirely unfeasible that tariffs may yet drive up the price. Right now, it seems that the recently announced exemptions to so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” which include smartphones and other consumer electronics, won’t include video-game consoles like the Switch 2.

As for the games themselves, the wind has long been blowing toward higher prices. In 2020, full-priced titles made the jump from $59.99 to $69.99. Now, five years later, they’re being hiked up similarly. It’s worth considering that the cost of producing games, especially during the ongoing inflation crisis, has not gone down, all while the video-game market has found itself stagnating, both in terms of play numbers and, according to the investor and analyst Matthew Ball, profits. In light of this picture, Ball argues that such a product price increase is, in effect, inevitable and, indeed, with his C-suite hat on, something to also be desired.

The Overton window of gaming prices could shift even further with the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 later in the year. Ball suggests a price point of $80 to $100. In light of the Mario Kart World price, upward of $80 seems a near certainty. The bigger question is whether GTA 6 will surpass it, and if so, by how much? When previously asked about its price on investor calls, Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two, noncommittally said they want to “over-deliver” on content relative to the price tag. He also maintains that the cost of games remains “very, very low because we offer many hours of engagement.”

Zelnick may well have a point, but that doesn’t mean these higher prices won’t sting for those who can afford it — or indeed lock out those who can’t. The Switch 2 and GTA 6 point toward console gaming becoming a pricier pursuit than it ever has been in the past 20 years or so. With the Switch 2, Nintendo (whose mascot is the proletariat plumber icon, Mario, remember) seems to be ushering video games into a new gilded age; there’s lots of fun to be had, so long as you can afford it.