The Real Reason You Shouldn't Wait To Buy A Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch is one of the best-selling gaming consoles of all time, selling more than 150 million units since its debut in March 2017. As of 2025, it has been out-paced only by Sony's Playstation 2, according to Statista. Expectations were, therefore, high for the Nintendo Switch 2's release in June 2025. However, despite a Circana report finding that the Switch 2 was the fastest‑selling home console in U.S. history (after only seven months), the console's production was cut by over 30% in March 2026, supposedly as a result of U.S. sales not meeting company projections. However, if you're hoping that this news will come with an accompanying price decrease, think again.
Multiple economic factors — ranging from hardware costs to inflation — in addition to insights from Nintendo insiders all point to a price increase coming for the console sooner rather than later. While not the most expensive game console ever, the Switch 2 starts at $449.99 as of mid-April 2026. Meanwhile, the original Switch increased by $50 in August 2025 and currently has a starting price of $299.99.
Multiple factors make it likely that the Switch 2 will increase in price
A former sales expert for Nintendo indicated that a pending hike was inevitable in an April 1, 2026 episode of the Kit & Krysta Podcast. The insider cited economic woes — including inflation — as well as AI demand for storage chips, tariffs, and even oil shortages all as potential reasons for Nintendo price increases. The explosion of the AI industry, in particular, has resulted in decreased supply of both RAM and SSD chips — required components of Switch 2 consoles. In fact, according to PC Part Picker, SSD chip prices in March 2026 cost more than double what they did in mid-2025. Meanwhile Trump's tariffs on goods from China continues to make it difficult to get many metals and components necessary for production.
Other game consoles have similarly increased prices, or announced they would be soon. For instance, Sony announced new prices for its PlayStation consoles effective April 2026. With that said, it is still unclear when a price hike might occur for the Switch 2. While Nintendo did assure customers that the price for physical Nintendo Switch games would not be going up, it still feels inevitable that console prices will increase sooner rather than later. Plus, if production continues to decrease, it could wind up being a rare game console worth a fortune one day.