Nintendo announced today, alongside its FY26 financial results, that the Switch 2 is getting its first price increase since launch. Effective September 1, 2026, the Switch 2 will go up $50 in the United States, from $449.99 to $499.99. Canada will see a $50 hike to $679.99, and Europe will get a €30 bump to €499.99 on the same date.
Japan is getting hit harder and sooner. The Japanese-Language System for the Switch 2, which is sold only in Japan, is jumping from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980 on May 25, 2026. The Multi-Language System sold through My Nintendo Store will not see a price change. Nintendo is also raising prices on the original Switch line in Japan, with the OLED Model going to ¥47,980, the standard Switch to ¥43,980, and the Switch Lite to ¥29,980, all effective May 25. Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions in Japan are also getting increases starting July 1, and the company says price revisions are planned in South Korea as well.
Anyone who has been paying attention basically saw this coming. Console prices have been climbing across the board for a while now. Nintendo raised prices on the original Switch line back in August 2025, and at the time we wondered whether the Switch 2 would follow. Sony hiked PlayStation 5 prices in the US by $50 a couple weeks later, Xbox raised its console prices twice in 2025, and Sony went bigger than anyone in late March 2026 with another $100 hike across the PlayStation 5 lineup, putting the Digital Edition at $599.99, the standard disc model at $649.99, and the PlayStation 5 Pro at $899.99. Compared to all that, Nintendo’s $50 increase is on the lighter end. The Switch 2 still ends up as the cheapest current-generation console at $499.99, even if no price hike is good news for consumers.
Nintendo’s reasoning lines up with the industry-wide explanation: memory chip prices have skyrocketed due to AI data center demand, tariffs are still in play, and console margins are under pressure. We’re well past the era when consoles got cheaper as the generation matured, and gaming is trending in the wrong direction for anyone hoping to get into the hobby on a budget. If you’ve been on the fence about a Switch 2, the next four months are essentially a buying window before September 1. It’ll be interesting to see whether the price hike actually slows momentum on what’s been considered a successful launch.
