January’s Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event took the wraps off the console, but left a lot of details unanswered until now. After the initial reveal, I put together an analysis of the possible pricing for the console, using Nintendo’s own historical pricing strategies to guide my thinking. My conclusion then was that it would cost $399.
At that price, the Nintendo Switch 2 will be the most expensive console Nintendo has ever released, by some margin. And even adjusted for inflation, the Nintendo Switch 2 will be the most expensive Nintendo console in more than 30 years!
It’s not quite June yet, so I can’t update this chart to reflect the inflation-adjusted price to the same date, but the prices from earlier this year are pretty illustrative of the change here.
But it wasn’t just me that was wrong! Nearly 57% of our poll respondents agreed with my predicted $399 price, and just 9% thought it would come in at $449. (If that was you, congratulations!) Is that indicative that Nintendo will have a hard time moving units at $449, or simply that people didn’t think Nintendo would go that high? It’s too early to say.
Earlier reporting from Bloomberg, citing multiple industry analysts, pegged the price between $399 and $499, so… nailed it?
On price, the analysts Bloomberg spoke to are unanimous in expecting the Switch 2 to cost at least $399 — which, again, agrees with Polygon’s own analysis. Some think it could go higher, to $449 or even $499, driven by the cost of components and fears over the impact of U.S. tariffs. At $499 it would be the same price as a PlayStation 5 (and $50 more than a digital-only model).
Here again is a list of all of the current-gen consoles, now including the Switch 2 and its confirmed pricing:
At $449, the Switch 2 will go toe to toe on pricing with the all-digital variants of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which is in keeping with the Switch’s 2017 launch price that matched the $299 being asked for the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S. It’s worth noting, however, that $299 in 2017 dollars still comes in under $400 in today’s bucks, when adjusted for inflation. It’s not just you — everything really is just more expensive!
One last consideration: While the Switch 2’s specs actually put it a notch above the Steam Deck in some key categories, like resolution and including a 4K-compatible dock out of the box, I didn’t expect Valve’s portable gaming PC to beat Nintendo on pricing. The Steam Deck APU is going on three years old at this point, and a little long in the tooth, but it’s hard to argue against the value embedded in Valve’s storefront. (I bought Undertale for $1 recently just to have another copy.) So with Valve continuing to make a name for itself, and with Microsoft reportedly entering the portable gaming space this year in partnership with Asus, Nintendo no longer has the exclusive lock on the portable gaming market.
