Nintendo Switch 2's $449 price had nothing to do with tariffs, apparently
“Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself."
Update: Our new Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide has the latest information on the officially confirmed date and time in the US for April 24, 2025.
🤔 A recent interview by The Verge with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has revealed why the Switch 2 is a lot more expensive than its predecessor
🙅♂️ The speculation of it being President Trump's tariffs is moot, with the pricing decision made without taking them into account
✋ Nintendo has since halted Switch 2 pre-orders in the USA, owing to the President's newly announced tariffs
👉 Instead, the console justifies its higher price tag with its new features, such as a larger, more detailed screen and lots more processing power
The Nintendo Switch 2 price being just shy of $450 surprised a lot of people when the console was unveiled last week, and the reason why isn't necessarily what you may think.
Some people had speculated that the reason for the Switch 2's sticker being $150 more than the original Switch's in 2017 was at least somewhat due to President Donald Trump's planned global tariffs, ironically announced the same day as Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct.
According to a recent interview with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser with The Verge, the pricing decision was not directly impacted by the tariffs. “Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself. There’s currently no new preorder date, and whether the price of the console will be changed is unclear. The news is fresh (tariffs), and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact may be”, he stated.
With this in mind, Trump's tariffs have had an immediate impact for Nintendo. Nintendo recently announced it would be delaying Switch 2 pre-orders in the USA due to the tariffs, and it’s unclear as to when they might re-open or if the console will launch at an even higher price as a result.
The reason for the Switch 2 being at least $100 more than any current older Switch model in Nintendo's lineup is instead because of its new features and upgrades, according to Bowser.
For instance, the much larger 7.9-inch 1080p LCD screen with 120fps support in selected games, its beefier processing power with Nvidia's DLSS and RT cores, microSD Express support, and its larger Joy-Cons that come complete with mouse functionality. All of the new tech inside clearly doesn't come cheap.
Nintendo has also received some backlash for its game pricing for Switch 2, with some Nintendo Switch 2 launch games such as Mario Kart World featuring a high $80 price tag.
With this in mind, Doug Bowser stated in a recent Washington Post interview that Nintendo is likely to employ “variable pricing” in games, with their sticker price dictated by the game's development, the scope of its play and repeatability of gameplay – that is, games with higher development costs or work may command higher prices.
Nintendo tested this approach with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was the only Switch game to release for $70 in the US.
In accordance with Nintendo’s variable pricing strategy, the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour title, designed to showcase the console's new features, is priced at $10. Bowser stated this was because of its depth of gameplay and the work that the development team had put into it.
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.
