Nintendo rules out further Switch 2 price increases

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said on Nov. 5, 2026 that the company does not intend to raise the Switch 2 price further, speaking during the publisher’s first-half fiscal 2027 financial results.1

“There have been no major changes in the RAM situation,” Furukawa said.1

AI-driven memory and storage shortages, described as the RAMpocalypse, are driving console price increases across the industry. Eurogamer said the same shortage led PlayStation and Xbox to raise prices. Kotaku linked the scarcity to demand from AI data centers.1

The PlayStation 5 now retails at $649.99 and the PlayStation 5 Pro at $899.99 in the United States. Microsoft raised the Xbox Series X price from $500 to $600 and then to $650 in 2025, then again in 2026 to $800, after the console launched in 2020 at $500. The Xbox Series X hit an Amazon all-time low of $349 in 2023 and then climbed steadily. Xbox says memory and storage costs have risen more than 2.5 times and expects another doubling by fall 2027.1

Nintendo’s own hardware price has already moved once this cycle. The Switch 2 launched in 2025 at $449.99 and now costs $499.99. Nintendo raised the price by $50, €30 or ¥10,000 on Sept. 1 in the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe. Eurogamer called this the first price increase for the console itself.1

The move came after Nintendo raised Switch 2 accessory prices in the United States because of Trump Administration tariffs before the console launched, a change Eurogamer described as technically separate from the console price rise. The accessory increase preceded the September 2026 console price rise. Amazon listed the Switch 2 at $500 while the selling price remained $450, momentarily marked as a 10 percent discount.1

Nintendo has sold 26 million Switch 2 consoles lifetime, with IGN putting the figure at 26.35 million, and sales outpace the original Switch across the first six quarters following release. Eurogamer contrasted current performance with the console’s banner launch in 2025, while noting the hardware still leads the original Switch’s launch-aligned pace. IGN noted the console had a record-breaking launch as the fastest-selling console of all time, making second-year comparisons difficult. Switch 2 hardware sales have declined for several quarters compared with its 2025 launch.1

In the first half of fiscal 2027, from April to September 2026, Nintendo sold 6.49 million Switch 2 units, down from 10.36 million in the same period last year. The company sold 2.67 million units in the three months to September 30, 2026, down 41 percent from the same period last year. Operating profit fell 16 percent to 73.9 billion yen, about $467 million, in the three months to September 30, following a 15 percent sales decline.

Investors remain concerned about the memory situation and a lack of high-profile titles for Switch 2 in 2026.1

Nintendo launched The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on Nov. 5, 2026, and Nintendo shares jumped 8.13 percent that day. The share rise followed both the remake release and the financial report, and investors hoped the remake would boost Switch 2 sales during the holiday season.1

Switch 2 software sales include 8.81 million units of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, 2.89 million of Rhythm Heaven Groove and 2.42 million of Splatoon Raiders. StarFox sold 1.17 million units after a June release, and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave sold 1.34 million units after a September release. The company expects bigger titles for Switch 2 in 2027.1

Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves are confirmed for Switch 2 in 2027, and a next mainline Super Mario game is expected. One of Nintendo’s longtime ROM suppliers exited the business to focus on more lucrative segments, and Nintendo has not commented. ROM memory is used in Switch cartridges. Eurogamer said the same memory crisis pushed the supplier out.1