PS5 isn’t the only console that’s getting a price hike. According to a former Nintendo Sales lead, Switch 2 might also get a price increase, given the current situation.
In a recent interview on the Kit & Krysta podcast, a former Nintendo sales lead (identified only as “Sean”) claimed that a price increase for the Nintendo Switch 2 is essentially unavoidable. And honestly, given everything happening globally right now, it’s not a huge surprise.
According to Sean, while Nintendo will likely try to hold the current price for as long as possible, there are simply too many external pressures building up. “Unfortunately, I think eventually the hardware price is going to have to go up,” he said, pointing to a mix of inflation, tariffs, and rising component costs as the main drivers.
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Why A Price Hike Might Be Coming Sooner Than Expected
The big issue here is that gaming hardware doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The same global factors affecting everything from cars to smartphones are also hitting consoles.
For starters, memory (RAM) prices have surged due to massive demand from AI-related industries. At the same time, tariffs and shipping costs don’t help cut costs either. Even things like oil prices are playing a role as higher fuel costs impact everything from production to distribution.
“And you know, within the past couple of weeks, we have had issues with oil prices going through the roof. And when oil goes through the roof, that’s not just shipping costs that go up, there’s… You know, we can imagine, to get the games from wherever they’re being manufactured, to the warehouse, to the retailers, to the shelf, that’s going to drive the price up.
He also mentioned small factors like helium, which is a key resource in developing chips.
“But there are other things that people may not realize. Helium is a by-product of producing oil. Helium is a key and unreplaceable ingredient in making semiconductors, which means hardware prices go up. It’s an unreplaceable by-product of making silicon wafers, which means if you’re Nintendo and you’re producing cartridges, that’s going up as well.”
All of this adds up quickly, and even a company like Nintendo, which traditionally tries to keep hardware affordable, may not be able to absorb those costs forever.
How Is Nintendo Trying To Prevent It?
Even Nintendo doesn’t want the prices to go up, because it could lead to lower sales. But, given the rising hardware, shipping, and various other costs, it’s going to go up sooner or later.
Sean explained that Nintendo will likely do everything it can to delay the price increase. Their best bet is to justify increased hardware costs by supplementing it with lower digital software prices.
“If the proposition is ‘you’re going to spend a little bit more on hardware, but if you buy your games digitally, you can save money there’, that’s one way to look at it,” he said. “Nintendo also has a lot of ancillary products – amiibo, t-shirts, lunchboxes, Lego, that they can make money from other areas, not just the hardware.
“So they may be able to put off raising hardware prices for a moment, but I think it’s inevitable that they’re going to go up for the first time.”
The idea is pretty straightforward: if players save money on software, they might be more willing to accept paying more upfront for the console itself.
And this wouldn’t be happening in isolation either. Sony recently raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in some regions, and analysts expect more hardware price adjustments across the industry as economic pressures continue.
Despite these concerns, the Nintendo Switch 2 is still performing well overall. The system has already sold millions of units since launch and continues to benefit from strong first-party support.
If you’ve been thinking about picking up a Switch 2, this might be one of those “sooner rather than later” situations. Because if the broader industry trends hold, today’s price might not stick around forever.
Published: Apr 2, 2026 11:02 am