"Hardware prices will not fall": Industry analysts are "extremely concerned about" console prices, wouldn't be shocked if the Nintendo Switch 2 costs more in 2026

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Photo by Rosalie Newcombe of the Nintendo Switch 2 sitting on a coffee table surrounded by accessories.
(Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

Do you want the bad news, or the worse news first? There's no good way to do this, so why don't we just hear both at the same time: game hardware got much more expensive in 2025, and we should prepare for similar price hikes in 2026.

Circana industry analyst Mat Piscatella tells GamesRadar+, "I'm not afraid to say I'm extremely concerned about" rising hardware prices in 2026. Already, the standard Xbox Series X has gone up to $600 from $500, each version of the PS5 went up $50, and the original Nintendo Switch – released in 2017, let's remember – became $340 instead of $300.

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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