The original Switch has maintained its $300 USD price since it launched in 2017, but with Switch 2, Nintendo is raising the price of entry to $450. Even Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa is willing to acknowledge that's a "relatively high" price by comparison, and one that may make it difficult to keep the community's enthusiasm for the new console going.
In a Q&A with investors following Nintendo's recent financial results report, which recently got an official English translation, Furukawa said that the company is setting a goal of 15 million Switch 2 consoles sold in the fiscal year. The aim is to reach the same level of sales the original console managed in its first 10 months.
"Nintendo Switch 2 is priced relatively high compared to Nintendo Switch," Furukawa continued, "so we recognize that there are corresponding challenges to early adoption. That being said, Nintendo Switch 2 can play compatible Nintendo Switch software, so there is continuity between the platforms. We are taking steps like bundling software with the hardware to accelerate adoption in the first fiscal year, aiming to get off to the same start we did with Nintendo Switch."
The major bundle Nintendo is offering for Switch 2 is priced at $500 and comes with a digital copy of the $80 Mario Kart World, which marks a savings of $30 over the combined retail price of both products. Of course, $30 is a pretty small discount when we're starting at the $500 mark.
Still, some investors feel that Nintendo's projection of 15 million Switch 2 units sold is actually pretty conservative, given the enthusiasm with which players, especially in Japan, have been going after Switch 2 pre-orders.
But Furukawa again cites the higher price in saying that, "even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term through the holiday season and beyond."
And despite the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo is actually forecasting a decline in profit for the coming fiscal year. Furukawa says "we expect the gross profit ratio to decline due to Nintendo Switch 2 hardware having a lower profit margin than Nintendo Switch hardware."
In other words, despite the $150 price increase, Nintendo is actually making less money on each Switch 2 sold than it does on Switch 1 units. That's not entirely shocking - the tech that powers Switch 1 is eight years old at this point - but it illustrates the challenges of pricing tech in 2025's global economy.
Concerns over pricing go for $80 games, too, and Furukawa says "aspects such as increased game file size and extended development periods" are part of the math when determining pricing. For hardware, it gets even more complicated, between manufacturing costs, exchange rates, and worldwide market conditions.
"Going forward, we will continue to consider appropriate prices for each title when it comes to software prices," Furukawa concludes. "Hardware involves special factors such as tariffs, and we will take into account factors like those we have just described, while conducting careful and repeated deliberations when determining price."
These are the upcoming Switch 2 games you need to know about.
