TL;DR: Nintendo is increasing the cost of its Switch 2 to combat what the company described as changes in market conditions. Effective September 1, 2026, the handheld will retail for $499.99 in the US – a $50 hike over its original $449.99 price point.

In Canada, gamers will pay $679.99 for the Switch 2 and in Europe, it's going up to €499.99. Nintendo's home country of Japan isn't excluded from the price hike – in fact, the situation is worse there as the original Switch, the Switch OLED, and the Switch Lite will also sell for more. Worse yet, the price hike is set to take effect in Japan on May 25.

Nintendo launched its second-generation Switch 2 in most regions on June 5, 2025, priced at $449.99 – a full $150 more than the initial price of the original Switch. At the time, Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser said multiple factors contributed to the console's pricing including its enhanced features and technological upgrades.

The pending price hike is almost certainly related to the ongoing memory shortage caused by the AI boom, but that doesn't explain it all. Nintendo is also increasing the cost of its Switch Online and Expansion pack membership in Japan effective July 1 to "support appropriate alignment among regions." Rising costs and increased material pricing, meanwhile, are said to be responsible for price adjustments to Nintendo playing cards in its home country.

The price hikes are, unfortunately, the current reality we live in. Once upon a time, game consoles and other consumer electronics would actually get cheaper over time as they aged. Manufacturing costs would come down, and hardware makers would pass the savings on to consumers. The strategy worked for decades and in the case of consoles, further helped grow install bases in the later stages of a system's life.

The new normal of constant price hikes effectively incentivizes consumers to become early adopters. It's too early to know if we'll continue down this path once the memory market stabilizes, but it feels less likely as each day passes.