After Sony recently announced it is raising the price of the PS5, Nintendo has reaffirmed that it has no plans to do the same with the Switch.
Earlier this week, Sony announced the PS5 is getting more expensive pretty much everywhere in the world bar the US, going up by £30 in the UK. In response to that, Microsoft confirmed it wouldn’t raise the price of the Xbox Series X or S. Now, in a statement to Eurogamer, Nintendo confirmed that it too has “no plans” to increase the cost of the Switch.
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The statement reaffirmed comments made by Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa in June at the 82nd annual general meeting of shareholders, saying “”‘While we cannot comment on pricing strategies, we currently do not have any plans to change the price of our hardware due to inflation or increased procurement costs in each country. We will determine our future pricing strategies through careful and continued deliberations.'”
“While the final price to consumers is always determined by retailers, as Mr Furukawa stated, Nintendo has no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware,” continued the statement.
It obviously came as a bit of a shock that the already incredibly elusive PS5 is going up in price, as consoles increasing their prices is generally unheard of. Company president and CEO Jim Ryan explained that the move is “a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business.”
With the change in price only being very recent, it’s unclear how it might affect sales of the console, particularly because other regions are seeing a bigger price hike, like in Europe where the cost is going up by €50, which is roughly £42.
Though as noted by industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls speaking to Eurogamer, the change in prices is unlikely to dent pent up demand, or Sony’s bottom line.