It’s been a little over two months since the Nintendo Switch 2 came out, and Nintendo is already raising prices … on the original Nintendo Switch. In a short and not-so-sweet blog posted to the company’s website today, Nintendo said that it will adjust U.S. pricing for all models of the Switch 1 starting on Aug. 3.
That gives you just two days to get the console at its current price, which is $300 for the standard version, $350 for the OLED model, and $200 for the Switch Lite. While Nintendo didn’t say what the new price will be or even whether it’ll be adjusted up or down, it’s easy to read between the lines here—an increase is definitely on the way.
You might expect the company to, after releasing a successor for the Switch 1, lower prices on it. But the blog specifically calls out “market conditions” as the cause here, which makes it pretty easy to tell what’s going on.
The announcement comes a day after an executive order from the White House that once again threatened trading partners with tariffs, set to kick in on Aug. 7. Japan, Nintendo’s home country, was hit with a 15% tariff, and while that’s not quite as high as some countries are having to deal with (Switzerland is getting a 39% tariff), it’s also not nothing. Plus, much of the Switch’s production takes place in Vietnam, which is staring down a 20% tariff.
It’s possible that Nintendo will raise the Switch 1’s price a whole 15% or 20% to match, which would take the standard model from $300 to $345, but the company might also be willing to absorb some of the cost of the tariff (which it’s important to point out are technically paid by importers, although exporters often adjust prices to match). The Switch 2, after all, is not getting any price increase, likely to keep sales momentum going after it recently doubled the first-month sales of the original.
Also not getting price increases are Switch or Switch 2 games, as well as Nintendo Switch Online memberships. Oddly enough, though, the Nintendo Alarmo alarm clock will be getting a price bump as part of these changes, as well as certain unnamed amiibo and Switch 2 accessories.
The news follows a separate price hike for Switch 1 systems in Canada, which saw $20 price increases on the Switch and Switch Lite, and a $40 price increase on the Switch OLED.
