Nintendo announced Switch 2's $450 price tag with the threat of looming tariffs under US President Donald Trump. That price tag held after the tariffs were implemented, and still remained the same once they were declared illegal. Nintendo got $300 million back in refunds on those tariffs, but it's been very clear that it has no plans on passing the cash back to consumers. Instead, the company is offering a two-week-long Customer Appreciation sale.
"The Customer Appreciation Sale is our way of saying thank you to Nintendo players for their continued support and is made possible in part by tariff-related refunds," the company says in its announcement. "While Nintendo absorbed most tariff-related costs, the refunds helped make promotions like this one possible."
The sale, which will be available at the online Nintendo Store and the company's retail locations, runs from September 12 at 9pm PT until September 26 at 8:59pm PT. Nintendo calls it "one of our largest promotions ever," and promises "30% off dozens of Nintendo Switch digital games and bundles, plus savings on select physical games, downloadable content, accessories, amiibo, and apparel."
There are no more specific details on which items will be discounted, but official first-party Nintendo sales are pretty rare things, and this will be a unique opportunity to get Nintendo products at less than MSRP. Still, I doubt that giving more money to Nintendo is going to take the sting out of the Switch 2 costing so much.
The Switch 2's high price compared to previous Nintendo consoles is only partly due to the tariffs. Certainly, you can more directly attribute the recent price hike to $500 to the global RAM shortage being caused by AI data centers. But those tariffs are a factor, and despite threats of class action lawsuits, Nintendo has resolutely refused – just like Sony and Microsoft – to offer direct refunds to consumers.
If you missed yesterday's showcase, here's everything announced at the Nintendo Direct for September 2026.
