Nintendo has finally explained why the Switch 2 is getting more expensive, and the short version is: the hardware market is still sakit.
Following its latest full-year earnings, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company does not see rising memory and component costs easing quickly. In other words, this is not just a small temporary bump that Nintendo can quietly absorb while waiting for prices to normalise.
According to Furukawa, Nintendo considered other ways to deal with the situation, including improving productivity and keeping hardware pricing stable to grow the install base. But with memory prices, component costs, foreign exchange movement, and oil prices all creating pressure, Nintendo decided keeping the old price would hurt hardware profitability too much over the medium to long term.
That is why Nintendo says it made the “difficult decision” to pass part of those costs to buyers.
From 1 September, the Nintendo Switch 2 price in Europe rises from €470 to €500, while the US price moves from $450 to $500. The UK does not have one fixed official retail price because retailers decide pricing there.
For Malaysian and SEA gamers, the key thing to watch is not just the direct conversion. US$500 is already roughly in the RM2.3k range before taxes, shipping, retailer margin, and local bundle nonsense enter the chat. If regional distributors adjust pricing in line with Nintendo’s global move, the Switch 2 could become an even harder impulse buy for families, students, and casual players who were already waiting for a promo or bundle.
This also matters because Nintendo was basically the last major console maker to hold out. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X have already seen multiple price increases this generation, with the base PS5 reportedly reaching £570/€650/$650 at the end of March. Traditionally, consoles get cheaper as the generation goes on. This generation? Bro, everything is upside down.
The Switch 2 launched in June 2025, before the current memory price situation became more painful. Eurogamer notes that the spike has been driven partly by huge demand from generative AI computing, which is competing for the same kinds of components used across tech hardware. So yes, even if you do not care about AI, AI demand may still be making your gaming device more expensive. Gila but real.
Nintendo had a strong first year with Switch 2, selling just under 20 million units by the end of March 2026. But the company has already lowered its second-year expectation to 16.5 million units, and Furukawa admitted the higher price raises the entry barrier for some buyers.
Nintendo’s answer is basically: the games need to justify the price. Furukawa said the company wants to grow the console’s install base by showing players that upcoming titles offer experiences unique to Switch 2.
The content pipeline does look interesting. Pokémon Pokopia has already performed well, while Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has become one of those weird Nintendo games people cannot stop talking about. Coming up, Nintendo has announced a Switch 2 remake of Star Fox 64 for June, plus the single-player Splatoon spin-off Splatoon Raiders this summer.
Beyond that, FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods is still planned for this year, although updates have been quiet. A new mainline Pokémon title, Wind and Waves, is coming in 2027. There is also Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave supposedly due this year, alongside rumours of a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
For Malaysia, this puts the Switch 2 in a tricky but familiar position. Nintendo still has that family-friendly, party-game, portable-console magic that works perfectly for dorms, cafes, balik kampung trips, and couch multiplayer sessions. But if the hardware price keeps climbing, more players here may stick with the original Switch, buy second-hand, wait for Shopee/Lazada sales, or just spend on PC and mobile games instead.
Nintendo’s warning is the part that stings: component uncertainty may affect not only this year, but next year too. So if you were hoping this was a short-term price correction, Nintendo is basically saying jangan harap too soon.
Source: Eurogamer