How are Trump’s tariffs impacting the Nintendo Switch 2 launch? : NPR

U.S. consumers may have to pay even more than the announced $449 price tag for the Nintendo Switch 2. The video game company said on Friday that preorders for the hotly anticipated console will be delayed due to President Trump’s new global tariffs:

“Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.”

We spoke to Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser about the new console and the headwinds it faces.

Some Nintendo fans have assumed that the Nintendo Switch’s $449 price tag accounts for global tariffs. But after President Trump’s most recent announcements, could this number increase in the U.S.?

What I can share is the $449 for the individual SKU and then the $499 for the hardware SKU plus Mario Kart World. Those were made based on previous tariffs, and there was no impact from previous tariffs on those pricing. More on that pricing, I should say, much like every other company, I think in the U.S. right now, we’re in the process of actively assessing what the impact may be, but we really have nothing further to announce in regards to pricing.

Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser (yes, he does indeed share a name with Mario’s nemesis!).

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What impact do you expect the 24% additional tariffs on Japanese exports to have on your business moving forward, not only for the Switch but for everything that Nintendo America sells? 

As I mentioned, we’re just going to have to actively assess what that impact may be. Things may change in the days ahead. So we’re just watching and trying to understand what that impact might be and what actions we might have to take.

There’s also a concern about availability. Scalping bots are extremely effective. What can Nintendo of America do with its retailers to ensure that every family who wants a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch can get one?

First of all, we want to meet the demand that’s out there. We think we have a device in Nintendo Switch 2, and a host of games both from Nintendo and from our publishing partners that consumers are really going to want to purchase and be a part of. We’ve been able to build up inventories over the past months and be in a good position as we head into the launch period. When it comes to issues like scalping or bots, we’re working actively with our retail partners. They have programs in place to prevent a lot of this action, and we depend on those as they sell their products ourselves. We have a unique program within Nintendo.com where we’re engaging with active users and people with established Nintendo accounts to offer products to them first and foremost.

King Rauru and Princess Zelda in upcoming Nintendo game Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

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Why settle on June 5 as the release date?

We like to think that the year is a year and that there are no specific time frames when you should or must launch video games. And so, as we looked at the games that we had prepared and ready to launch with the hardware, we thought June was a very good timing. It’s the start of summer season, and obviously, with a Nintendo Switch 2, you have a device that you can both play at home and play at home docked like a gaming console, or you can take it out of the dock and take it on the go. So it’s a perfect game for summer travel.

The original Switch really popularized what we now call handheld gaming. Now, with the Switch 2 Joy-Con’s mouse capabilities, it invites more games traditionally designed for PCs. So, is the hope that the Switch 2 can become a home for as broad a catalog as Steam has with its PC games?

I would say the hope is that we are the home to the broadest number of players as possible, and we want to make sure we’re providing content that is appealing to all types of players, whether it’s families, whether it’s individual players, whether it’s more adult players or more mature players. We want to make sure that we’re the place that they can find that content. And by having a piece of hardware like Nintendo Switch 2 with the reimagined Joy-Con two controller and the mouse capabilities, we think that will allow us to expand the catalog and bring in more developers that perhaps are making games that are more mouse-controlled.

An enigmatic character from upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods by From Software.

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What about chip shortages as we enter into a brave new trade world? How can you ensure that you  keep up supply, especially when so many of these parts are coming from all over the world?

I can’t speak to the specifics of our manufacturing process and over our materials acquisition. But what I can say is we spent quite a bit of time with our suppliers making sure that we have a long term plan with them and a very, very filled pipeline, if you will, of materials so that we’re able to meet the high side of the demand that we’re forecasting for.

Is Nintendo of America considering working with your parent company to possibly bring manufacturing to the U.S.?

We’re always assessing where we should be having manufacturing based on where volumes are and also based on just other economies and considerations. So, right now, our manufacturing is primarily located in Southeast Asia, but we are always looking at other options to ensure that we have a fulfilled supply chain overall.