The original Nintendo Switch will soon hold a higher price tag in the United States.
On Friday, Nintendo announced that it’s raising prices on its old gaming consoles and accessories as a result of “market conditions” beginning Aug. 3. The price of the new Nintendo Switch 2 will remain the same. However, the original Switch, Nintendo Switch OLED Model, Nintendo Switch Lite, and some Switch accessories will all get higher prices.
The announcement didn’t reveal what the new retail price will be for Switch 1 systems, but we have some idea of what to expect.
Nintendo fans (or anyone who’s gone searching for Switch 2 restocks) may recognize the X account Wario64, known for tracking Switch inventory online. The account spotted the higher prices already in effect at retailers like Target; the increases range from $30 to $50.
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As Kotaku reports, video game consoles usually go down in price as time goes on and the products get older. But Nintendo is taking another route, and tariffs may be to blame.
While the Nintendo statement didn’t mention tariffs, the company referenced “market conditions,” a common euphemism for tariffs. This is the exact same language the company used in April, when it paused Switch 2 pre-orders in the United States following the initial round of tariffs. Earlier this year, Microsoft also announced price increases on Xbox consoles (also citing “market conditions”). And in previous reporting, experts have also told Mashable that tariffs have had a big impact on video game consoles and accessories in particular.
“[A] lot of the big electronic brands may have avoided some tariffs by stockpiling inventories earlier in the year, before tariffs were announced,” said Rick Kowalski, Senior Director of Business Intelligence at the Consumer Technology Association, in an earlier interview with Mashable about tariffs and tech prices. “Those stockpiles will only last a few months at most, so eventually, importers will need to restock, and they’ll import more products at the higher tariff rates.”
Nintendo says that prices for the Nintendo Switch 2 system, as well as physical and digital Switch games, will not change yet. However, the company says further “price adjustments may be necessary in the future.”
