When the president of one of the most beloved companies in gaming has to publicly apologise to its fans, that is, by itself, a sign that something has gone wrong in communication. Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo's president since 2018, did exactly that in May 2026: he acknowledged the inconvenience caused to users by the Switch 2 price hike in Japan and promised steps to boost the platform's perceived value.
The jump is substantial: the console goes from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980 in the Japanese market from May 25, 2026 — roughly $70 more. Nintendo also confirmed the adjustment will reach the US, Canada and Europe "later this year", without specific dates. And on top of that, Nintendo Switch Online subscription prices will rise in Japan from July 1. In a single statement, Nintendo announced that everything would cost more.
The reasons: tariffs, AI and production
Nintendo is not the first or only company doing this. Sony raised PS5 prices in Europe in April 2026. The causal chain is the same for everyone: Trump's tariffs on production in China, Japan and Vietnam have made hardware manufacturing more expensive. AI data-centre demand has driven up RAM and storage prices, key components of any modern console. And broad inflation has eroded margins.
Niko Partners had warned in January: "Switch 2 is competitively priced versus PS5 and Xbox Series X, but we believe it will follow Sony's and Microsoft's lead with its own price hike." The forecast was right. The question analysts are now asking is whether those hikes will hit second-half hardware sales. Nintendo's fiscal year 2027 projections already point to a 16.9% slowdown versus the prior year, possibly linked to the price-hike effect on demand.
Nintendo's price hike · What changes
- Switch 2 in Japan: from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980, +~$70, from May 25, 2026.
- Nintendo Switch Online Japan: also rises from July 1, 2026 (all plans).
- Upcoming markets: US, Canada and Europe, dates to be confirmed.
- Fan reaction: heavy social-media complaints, Furukawa apologised publicly.
- Switch 2 digital games: now cheaper than physical from May (positive move).
- Large unannounced exclusives: Furukawa confirmed they exist, but not when they will be revealed.
The positive move that went unnoticed
Amid the price-hike bad news, Nintendo took a decision that drew more positive reactions: from May 2026, Nintendo-published Switch 2 digital games will have a different — lower — list price than physical versions. The company justified the move by pointing out that the production and distribution costs of physical and digital formats are different, and price should reflect that difference.
It is a decision players had been asking for years and that other platforms had not implemented so explicitly. In practice, it nudges buyers towards digital — reducing Nintendo's logistics costs and removing the second-hand market — while offering a lower price for those who prefer it. Analysts note the move may be indirectly related to pressure from Epic Games, whose legal battle with Apple and Google over storefront commissions is gradually changing expectations on digital product pricing.
The underlying problem: where is the new Mario?
The most structural criticism Nintendo fans level at Switch 2 is not the price: it is the catalogue. The console has been on the market almost a year and there is still no announcement of a new Super Mario, a new Zelda or a new Metroid. Nintendo's most important franchises — the ones that drive hardware sales — are missing from the published calendar. President Furukawa confirmed in the financial-results Q&A that there are unannounced titles in development, but current long development times prevent revealing them before they are closer to launch. FromSoftware's The Duskbloods and announced titles like Yoshi, Splatoon and Fire Emblem are promising, but they do not replace the commercial weight of Mario or Zelda.
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