Analysts and other industry figures have weighed in on the potential impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, including the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.

Trump’s general 10% tariff rate for certain countries comes into force on April 5, 2025, while nations affected by variously higher ‘reciprocal’ percentages will be hit from April 9. The full impact is still coming into focus as countries retaliate.

In this context, it’s an extremely significant week for video games, with the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 revealed shortly before the tariffs were formally unveiled on April 2. As a result, it has ignited speculation around whether the $450 US price tag for the Switch 2 was partially determined by the incoming threat of tariffs or not.

“It’s difficult to say for certain,” Mat Piscatella of Circana tells GamesIndustry.biz when asked whether he believed Nintendo factored tariffs into the price. “However at least the potential for tariffs was widely known before the announcement of pricing around Switch 2 products.

“How much potential tariffs played as part of the determination of that pricing? I don’t know. I’d have to believe that it was at least a consideration.”

“Nintendo most likely ran simulations to get to a price that would make them tariff-proof as much as possible”

Dr Serkan Toto, Kantan Games

The specifics of the tariffs were harder to predict.

“Now whether or not the scale and scope of the tariffs, as they were announced yesterday, were considered possible is an entirely different question,” says Piscatella. “Another open question is what the announced tariffs may mean in terms of potential for further end consumer price increases (not just for Nintendo products, but across all physical video game products), particularly in the US.”

When asked by GameSpot about the tariffs and whether they could drive the Switch 2 price up in affected countries further, a Nintendo spokesperson said, “If there are any price changes, we will make an announcement.”

Nintendo moved some manufacturing of its hardware to Vietnam, which was hit with a steep 46% reciprocal tariff. “The reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam and Japan have come in higher than expected, and Nintendo will feel the impact of this if the tariffs go into full effect,” said Niko Partners.

Still, Niko Partners do not expect a price increase for the Switch 2 based on what was announced this week. “That being said, we think it’s unlikely that Nintendo will raise the price of the console at this point, but it’s also unlikely to see a price drop in the next 5 years.”

Kantan Games’ Dr Serkan Toto agrees that a price increase over the announced $450 is unlikely. “I believe it is now too late for Nintendo to drive up the price further, if that ever was an option in the first place,” Toto tells GamesIndustry.biz.

“As far as tariffs go, Nintendo was looking at a black box all the way until April 2 – just like everybody else,” says Toto. “As a hardware manufacturer, Nintendo most likely ran simulations to get to a price that would make them tariff-proof as much as possible.”

Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls told GameSpot that any price increase as a result of the tariffs would likely come further down the road. “If the tariffs persist, I think a price increase in 2026 might be on the table.”

“All anyone can do at this point is speculate,” says Piscatella when asked about the potential impact of the tariffs on the Switch 2 before and after launch. “We are certainly in uncharted waters here, and no one really knows what will happen next. The situation is chaotic, to say the least.”

“When it comes to the impact on Switch 2, even if additional price increases were to come, I’m not too worried about sales of the console in 2025. Given the limited quantities available in a launch year, and potential changes to regional allocation of those units, there should be more than enough super enthusiast fans and higher income households to allow the console to sell out in the US this year.”

Piscatella adds: “However, year two could be trickier as more supply should become available, and as the market will need to shift more from super enthusiasts to more mass-market buyers. But so many questions exist around what the US market will look like by 2026 that I don’t think any one outcome is all that more likely than another at the moment.”

As for the wider impact on the games industry beyond the Switch 2, that too is an open question at this point – but a negative impact is almost certain. The Entertainment Software Association’s Senior Vice President Aubrey Quinn told GameFile that tariffs “are going to have a real and detrimental impact on the video game industry.”

Since components are sourced from multiple countries, the effect could be far-reaching. “Any one product that a consumer would buy is likely to be subject to many of the tariffs announced, all compounded on top of one another,” Quinn said.

“We are certainly in uncharted waters here, and no one really knows what will happen next. The situation is chaotic, to say the least”

Mat Piscatella, Circana

The announcement this week is “not the end of the story”, Quinn added, either for the US or other countries.

It’s a challenging backdrop for the reveal of the follow-up to the third best-selling console of all time. The Switch 2 arrives on June 5 – and a lot can happen in two months.

Still, the console being revealed on the same day as the tariffs has made them part of the same story. “I am aware that Nintendo communicated the April 2 date before Trump announced his ‘Liberation Day’, but I am still flabbergasted as to why they did not postpone the Direct,” says Toto.

“Why on earth would you let your big news be buried by the tariff news in global mass media? Why would you not wait for the US to fix their tariffs first and then decide on pricing?

“This makes no sense.”