Nintendo Raises the Price of the Original Switch

By Bee Wertheimer  |  August 4, 2025 | 1:43pm
Video Games News Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Raises the Price of the Original Switch

Typically video game systems get cheaper the longer they’ve been on the market, but not much about our current situation could be called typical. That’s why it wasn’t very surprising when Nintendo announced last Friday that prices for the original Switch family of products would increase in the United States, a change which went into effect on August 3. Canada also saw an increase of Switch prices on August 1. 

Here are the US changes: The original Nintendo Switch, which retailed at $299.99 since its release, is now $339.99 on the My Nintendo store. The Switch Lite has gone up from $199.99 to $229.99, and the Switch OLED has increased from $349.99 to $399.99. First-generation Switch Joy-Cons have been hiked up from $79.99 to $89.99. Lastly, the Alarmo, previously $99.99, is now $109.99. (Yes, the Alarmo is a real thing you can buy. It’s an alarm.)

Prices remain unchanged for the Switch 2 as well as for physical and digital games on both Switch generations.

Nintendo cited “market conditions” as the reason for the price increase. The news came the day after Donald Trump signed an Executive Order imposing “reciprocal” tariffs on a variety of countries, including a 20% levy on Vietnam, effective August 7. Nintendo moved most of its manufacturing to Vietnam in 2019 during Trump’s first presidency in order to sidestep tariffs on China. 

The original Switch has sold 153.1 million units as of June 30, ranking it just below the DS as Nintendo’s highest-selling system. The Switch 2, which is now just $50 more expensive than the Switch OLED, has exceeded 6 million in sales since its June 5 release.

While game costs are unaffected by these latest hikes, the release of the Switch 2 saw a general price increase for new Nintendo titles as well, with Mario Kart World hitting $80—a full $20 more than most major first-party Switch games cost at launch. This is why my game of the summer is Game Freak’s Pocket Card Jockey for the 3DS.

 
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