Nintendo has pushed back at suggestions Switch 2’s price – which has already left some fans reeling – was influenced by early US trade tariffs. But it admits the latest round of sweeping tariffs introduced by US president Trump last week are “something we’re going to have to address”.
When Nintendo unveiled Switch 2 last week, the response to the console’s price was swift and unhappy, particularly in the US, where it’s set to retail for $450 USD. At the time, many speculated the comparatively hefty price tag – it’s the most expensive Nintendo console to date – might have been reached in response to early tariffs imposed by the US.
Instead, when The Verge asked Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser how the company had settled on Switch 2’s price, he pointed to the console’s new and redesigned features, ranging from its bigger LCD screen to reworked Joy-Con controllers. “We want to make sure that this is a device that is approachable, that consumers will see as part of their overall entertainment experiences and will understand that it has longevity to it,” Bowser explained. “And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price.”
“Put [the 2nd April tariff announcement] aside,” Bowser explained. “Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself.” Bowser noted the company’s move to “to diversify the places where we’re manufacturing our hardware and our accessories” – namely away from China to Vietnam and Cambodia – had enabled it to get ahead of “the early stages of tariffs. However, he admitted the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs – which include 46 percent levies on Vietnam and 49 percent on Cambodia – are more problematic.
“It creates a challenge,” he told Wired. “It’s something we’re going to have to address.” Bowser also reiterated Nintendo is “actively assessing” the situation and the impact it’s likely to have. That mirrors Nintendo’s statement last week, when the company took the unprecedented decision to indefinitely delay US preorders for Switch, just hours after announcing they’d begin on 9th April. At the time, Nintendo said preorders would be delayed in the US “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions”, but noted the console would still launch on 5th June. Whether the company might now opt to release at an even higher price remains to be seen.
“The reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam and Japan have come in higher than expected,” industry analyst Daniel Ahmad wrote last week, “and Nintendo will feel the impact of this if the tariffs go into full effect.”
Nintendo isn’t the only games company likely to be affected by Trump’s tariffs, either. Last week, the The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents all major gaming companies in the US, said the tariffs – which have already caused stock in Nintendo and Sony to plunge – will “have a real and detrimental impact” on the games industry. “Any one product that a consumer would buy is likely to be subject to many of the tariffs announced,” senior vice president Aubrey Quinn explained, “all compounded on top of one another.”
While it’s yet to be determined how tariffs will ultimately affect Switch 2’s US release, preorders will go ahead elsewhere in the world as initially planned. Many UK retailers have seemingly already exhausted their initial stock, but Nintendo’s own preorders go live in the UK this Thursday, 10th April – but invites are being determined based on a strict and rather convoluted set of rules.
