Nintendo says tariffs weren’t factored into the Switch 2’s $450 price as the industry braces for impact

Nintendo on Monday hinted that it’s not ruling out an upward adjustment of the $450 US price tag of its Switch 2 console.

“As we priced the Switch 2... we didn’t consider tariffs into that equation,” Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser said in an interview with CNBC. “We’re still all trying to really understand it better and understand what possible impacts may rise from that.”

Nintendo has been reeling since last week, when the Trump administration announced major tariffs on countries core to its supply chain, including Vietnam (46%), Cambodia (49%), and China (54%). Japan was tagged with a 24% levy.

The idea that tariffs didn’t play any factor in the steep cost of the new system doesn’t exactly engender optimism for US gamers holding out hope that Nintendo wouldn’t pass the levies on to consumers. On Friday, the gaming juggernaut paused US preorders of the console, which were set to begin Wednesday — which happens to be when the tariffs unveiled last week go into effect.

Still, Nintendo isn’t alone in its trade policy vulnerability. Sony and Microsoft also produce millions of consoles in tariffed countries. As a spokesperson for the Entertainment Software Association, a US video game trade group, told IGN Friday, “If we think it’s just the Switch, then we aren’t taking it seriously.”