Nintendo president comments on approach to Switch 2 game and hardware prices

Around the reveal of Nintendo Switch 2, there was a ton of discussion taking place around pricing. While the system having a set cost of $450 was a tough pill to swallow for some, for the most part, it seems that initial news has been accepted. However, game prices have been more controversial – many were surprised to see that Mario Kart World would cost $80, for example.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa was questioned about the company’s approach to pricing during a financial results briefing Q&A this week. Here’s what he had to say:

“The prices of Nintendo Switch 2 products are decided by comprehensively considering the market environment in each region. In addition to the manufacturing cost, the price of the hardware is decided after considering various factors such as the impression customers have of the price, exchange rates that are significantly different from the time of the release of Nintendo Switch, and the market environment in each region. For software, in addition to the same factors, the price is decided by considering factors such as increased costs due to increased game capacity and longer development periods.

As for the future policy, we will continue to consider the appropriate price for each software title as before. For hardware, although there are special factors such as tariffs, we will carefully consider the factors I have just explained and decide the price.”

Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser previously said that the company understands that not all consumers will be able to afford Switch 2. That’s one reason why the company is keeping the original Nintendo Switch around.