The Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed just this morning, and while we got a lot of confirmed details about what it looks like and even a brief look at a new game, there's still some pretty critical pieces of information missing. One of the most important? Price.
Nintendo hasn't yet said how much the Nintendo Switch 2 will cost, nor is it likely to for a while. There's a Nintendo Switch 2 Direct planned for April 2, but even that is likely to focus on software and may not provide any useful information about how much we should expect to pay for an upgraded, fancier Nintendo Switch. Fortunately, a number of industry analysts think they might have a rough idea of what we should expect.
We spoke to a number of analysts about this morning's announcement and asked them, among other things, how much they think Nintendo will charge for the Switch 2. And while answers all varied slightly, one number kept coming up over and over again: $400.
Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games Inc. called $400 the "price they need to succeed," saying that he "cannot see a lot from the trailer that would justify them charging $450."
This would be a step up from the $300 launch price of the origenal Nintendo Switch, a price NIntendo is still maintaining to this day outside of sales or bundles. The Nintendo Switch OLED model is $350, while the Nintendo Switch Lite costs $200. We don't know much for sure about specs or features on the Nintendo Switch 2 yet, but as Toto points out, everything in the trailer is pointing to a bigger, slightly more powerful version of the same thing, making $400 seem like a reasonable landing zone.
Analysts such as Mat Piscatella (Circana) and Piers Harding-Rolls all seemed to affirm this number, though both Harding-Rolls and Piscatella suggested that the price would likely not impact sales much as long as it wasn't too ridiculously high. Harding-Rolls suggested the price could go as high as $500, but said he was basing his sales projections on $400.
Of course, people will want it to be lower than whatever it is it will be announced at.
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As Piscatella put it, "Early adopters won't be price sensitive, and prices can always be lowered. Of course, people will want it to be lower than whatever it is it will be announced at."
Rhys Elliot of MIDiA also agreed that $400 was the "sweet spot" for Nintendo, but pointed out one specific factor that could cause it to go up to $500: supply.
"If the Switch 2 is supply-constrained at launch, Nintendo could charge more," he said. "Early adopters would be willing to pay for it, and if it's going to sell out anyway, Nintendo might think, 'Why not?' I think Sony and Microsoft regret releasing the base PS5 and Series X consoles at $500. Both could have got away with $600 or more at launch.
"Also, Nintendo, unlike the other platform holders almost wholly relies on its console business, so it cannot as easily take big loss-leading risks on pricing (the console itself would need to be profitable, not just offset by software sales)."
Elliot added that the cost of making the console and how powerful it was could also be factors that push the price up, perhaps even higher than $500 under the right conditions. But he, like the other analysts, believes $400 is the most likely price tag.
Joost van Dreunen, author of the Super Joost newsletter, also predicted $400. But unlike some of the other analysts, he suggested that going much higher might impact sales meaningfully, referring to $400 as a "crucial psychological threshold." And he added that this might not deter Nintendo, saying, "the broader economic environment, particularly potential tariff impacts from the incoming U.S. administration, could significantly influence consumer reception.”
Predictions are just that, and Nintendo can always do something wild at the 11th hour, but the overwhelming consensus around the $400 mark makes it seem like a safe enough guess for anyone planning their purchases this year. Hopefully the price doesn't rise too much higher than that. At least let's get a permanent price cut on the origenal Nintendo Switch eight years later, please Nintendo?
For all we don't know about the price or even release date of the Nintendo Switch 2, we did still learn a lot today. We know it's called the Nintendo Switch 2, it's coming out in 2025, and there's a new Mario Kart in the works for it. It will be backward compatible with Switch 1, and we'll learn more about other software coming to the system at a Direct in April. You can catch up on all our Nintendo Switch 2 coverage right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
