Nintendo sets a June release for the Switch 2 with a price tag of $450
The price point falls on the upper end of Nintendo’s historical console range.
Nintendo shares got a modest bump Wednesday morning as the gaming juggernaut finally shared some details about its long-anticipated Switch 2 console. The juiced-up but familiar handheld will launch on June 5.
The company announced a $450 price tag for the console, Nintendo’s first after eight years of Switch dominance, in line with most analysts’ expectations and within the company’s historical (inflation-adjusted) price range of $350 to $500. (Remember, investors were very recently concerned about the effect of tariffs on Nintendo’s business.) The original Switch launched at $299, or about $385 adjusted for inflation, and has sold 151 million units since 2017.
Gaming analysts Sherwood News spoke to mostly hold the belief that the price point won’t do much to hamper initial demand. Still, the hour-long event wrapping without a price tag did erase some of Nintendo shares’ early gains. The stock was up 1.4% just before 10:30 a.m. ET.
The “Legend of Zelda” maker confirmed a handful of features and add-ons: a game chat accessed via the updated joy-cons, the ability to use a joy-con like a computer mouse, larger internal memory, and a camera that’s launching with the console.
Nintendo’s also leaning on major IP to juice sales. A system-exclusive “Mario Kart” title was announced, set to launch on the same day as the console, and a fresh “Legend of Zelda” game was also announced, due out this winter. The game maker also showed trailers for Kirby- and Donkey Kong-led games.
Notably, the Switch 2’s beefier hardware seems to be better suited for playing AAA third-party games than the original. A “Cyberpunk 2077” port is coming out on launch day along with “Civilization 7” (utilizing mouse controls), while “Borderlands 4” will launch in the fall.
While backward compatibility will be available for most titles, Nintendo said popular Switch games will also get the remaster treatment for the new console — a strategy that has paid off for gaming rivals Sony and Microsoft.
