Nintendo Switch 2: From the Successor Tease to a Record Launch, 23 Million Units and the $499.99 Price

September Direct: Monster Hunter Wilds in December, Metroid Ravenous in January, Kirby in spring 2027

The 45-minute Direct laid out the second winter of Switch 2 software: Monster Hunter Wilds with local co-op on December 4, Final Fantasy VII Revelation in April 2027, The Witcher 3 remastered, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on February 25, 2027, a new 2D Metroid, Ravenous, and a new Kirby to close, with no 3D Mario. The lineup is what Nintendo is counting on to carry a $499.99 console through the holidays.

• GameSpot · Sep 9, 2026 · The Direct kicked off with Monster Hunter Wilds for Switch 2. It’ll be coming to the console on December 4, 2026. This version will include local co-op, and the big Ascendance expansion is also coming to the Switch 2 edition of the game.
• GameSpot · Sep 9, 2026 · There weren’t too many first-party reveals–sorry, 3D Mario fans–but we did get a first look at both a new Kirby adventure and another Metroid 2D game that leans hard into its “eat or be eaten” theme.
• Nintendo · Sep 9, 2026 · Monster Hunter Wilds launches for Nintendo Switch 2 on Dec. 4.

Editor's note: Official source added: https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-direct-reveals-metroid-ravenous-kirby-and-the-world-beyond-and-more-games-for-nintendo-switch-2-and-nintendo-switch/

$499.99 takes effect in the United States, Canada and Europe; the game bundle disappears

The US price rose from $449.99 to $499.99 as announced in May, and the 'Choose Your Game' bundle that had paired the console with a first-party title for $499.99 expired the day before, so late buyers paid $50 more for the console alone. Analysts described the DRAM shortage behind the rise as structural, with no relief expected before late 2027.

• Tech Times · Sep 1, 2026 · The Nintendo Switch 2's US price rose from $449.99 to $499.99 today, September 1, 2026 — the moment Nintendo announced in May — and with it went the last mechanism that had softened the cost of buying the console. The "Choose Your Game" bundle, which packaged the hardware with a download for one of three major first-party titles, expired yesterday.
• Nintendo of America · May 8, 2026 · Beginning on September 1, 2026, Nintendo of America will revise the MSRP of the Nintendo Switch 2 system in the U.S. from $449.99 to $499.99.

Editor's note: Official source added: https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/price-revision-for-nintendo-switch-2-system/

Q1 FY2027: 3.82 million for 23.68 million total, down a third on the launch quarter but 'solid' after Japan's price rise

Nintendo sold 3.82 million Switch 2 units in the June quarter, 34 percent fewer than the 5.82 million launch quarter a year earlier but more than the 2.49 million of the preceding quarter, for 23.68 million since launch, passing the GameCube's lifetime total. Operating profit rose 150 percent. Nintendo said sell-through remained solid despite the Japanese price revision and still exceeded the original Switch's pace.

• Nintendo Everything · Aug 6, 2026 · In our dedicated video game platform business in the first quarter of the fiscal year (April through June 2026), Nintendo Switch 2 hardware maintained strong sales momentum, with sales totaling 3.82 million units.
• Shacknews · Aug 6, 2026 · While the number of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles sold continues to grow, the Q1 FY27 results are 34 percent lower than the Q1 FY26 results, which saw 5.82 million units moved. However, this is an increase compared to Q4 FY26’s 2.49 million units sold.
• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Aug 6, 2026 · In the Japanese market, where a price revision took effect on May 25, hardware sell-through has also remained solid.

Editor's note: Official source added: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260806_2e.pdf

19.86 million in year one, then the price rise: $499.99 in the US from September 1, ¥59,980 in Japan from May 25, and a 16.5 million forecast

Nintendo closed the fiscal year at 19.86 million Switch 2 units, ahead of its 19 million target, with Mario Kart World at 14.70 million, and in the same breath announced price revisions in light of market conditions: ¥49,980 to ¥59,980 in Japan from May 25, $449.99 to $499.99 in the US, C$679.99 in Canada and €499.99 in Europe from September 1, with the original Switch and Nintendo Switch Online going up too. It forecast 16.5 million units for the new year and said memory prices and tariffs would cost about ¥100 billion.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · May 8, 2026 · In light of changes in market conditions, and after considering the global business outlook, Nintendo will revise the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) of the Nintendo Switch 2 system and Nintendo Switch systems in Japan as follows.
• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · May 8, 2026 · Effective Date of Price Revisions in the United States, Canada, and Europe: September 1, 2026 *Price revisions for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch will be implemented in other regions. *Further details will be provided by the respective overseas subsidiaries.
• CNBC · May 8, 2026 · The company said on Friday it expects to sell 16.5 million units of the Switch 2 in its fiscal year ended Mar. 31, 2027. That is a decline from the 19.86 million units sold in the fiscal year just ended.
• Nintendo Everything · May 8, 2026 · The March release of Pokémon Pokopia (see note) was a factor in driving further hardware sales toward the end of the fiscal year, helping sales volume reach 19.86 million units for the full term. Looking at software, Mario Kart World, which was released on the same day as the hardware, sold 14.70 million units, including bundle sales, and Donkey Kong Bananza, released in July, sold 4.52 million units.

Q3: 7 million in the holiday quarter for 17.37 million total; the 19 million forecast stands

Nintendo sold 7 million Switch 2 units in the December quarter, taking the total to 17.37 million and answering investors who had feared a holiday slowdown after the shares fell more than 30 percent from their August record. Revenue rose 86 percent. Nintendo called Switch 2 its fastest-selling console; the original Switch passed the DS as its best-selling hardware ever.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Feb 3, 2026 · Whereas cumulative sell-through of Nintendo Switch 2 hardware since launch is based on data aggregated through the fourth week of December, the sales volume (sell-in) for the third quarter was 17.37 million units.
• CNBC · Feb 3, 2026 · Nintendo has so far sold 17.37 million units of the Switch 2. It sold 7 million units in the December quarter alone. Nintendo said that the Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console it has ever released.

Editor's note: Official source added: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260204e.pdf

Q2: 10.36 million, and the forecast rises to 19 million

With 10.36 million Switch 2 units sold by the end of September, Mario Kart World at 9.57 million and Donkey Kong Bananza at 3.49 million, Nintendo lifted its full-year forecast from 15 to 19 million and its operating profit outlook by 16 percent. Furukawa called the first holiday season the key proving ground.

• Reuters (via Yahoo Finance) · Nov 4, 2025 · Nintendo on Tuesday hiked its sales forecast for the Switch 2 gaming device to 19 million units for the financial year ending March 2026 from 15 million units previously.
• Nintendo Everything · Nov 4, 2025 · Looking at software, Mario Kart World, which was released on the same day as the hardware launch, recorded sales of 9.57 million units, including bundle sales, and Donkey Kong Bananza, released in July, recorded sales of 3.49 million units, with both titles growing steadily.
• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Nov 4, 2025 · The full-year sales unit forecast for Nintendo Switch 2 hardware has been increased by 4.00 million units to 19.00 million units, and software by 3.00 million units to 48.00 million units.

Editor's note: Official source added: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2025/251104_4e.pdf

Q1: 5.82 million Switch 2 sold; the original Switch gets a US price rise as Vietnam tariffs hit

Nintendo reported 5.82 million Switch 2 units through June and the same day raised US prices of the original Switch, Switch Lite and OLED model from August 3 for market conditions, a day after a 20 percent tariff on Vietnam took effect. Switch 2 itself, games and Nintendo Switch Online were unchanged, with a warning that adjustments might be necessary in the future.

• TechCrunch · Aug 1, 2025 · Earlier on Friday, Nintendo reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings and shared that sales of the Switch 2 console have reached 5.82 million units since its release on June 5.
• Nintendo of America · Aug 1, 2025 · Pricing for the Nintendo Switch 2 system, physical and digital Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 games, as well as Nintendo Switch Online memberships, will remain unchanged at this time. However, please note that price adjustments may be necessary in the future.

Launch: 3.5 million in four days, the fastest start for any Nintendo hardware

Switch 2 went on sale June 5 with Mario Kart World and sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide in four days, the highest four-day total for any Nintendo system and, by analysts' reckoning, for any console. Major US retailers went out of stock; analysts said the 15 million forecast was conservative.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Jun 11, 2025 · announced that its new game system, Nintendo Switch 2, sold over 3.5 million units worldwide in the four days following its release on June 5, 2025*. This is the highest global sales level for any Nintendo hardware within the first four days.
• CNBC · Jun 11, 2025 · Nintendo sold more than 3.5 million units of its flagship Switch 2 gaming system in the four days following its launch, with online stores of major U.S. retailers putting up "out of stock" signs.

Price held at $449.99; pre-orders April 24; accessories go up instead

Nintendo kept the console, the bundle and the launch games at their announced prices and set US retail pre-orders for April 24, but raised accessory prices for market conditions and warned that other adjustments were possible. It was the first of a series of statements that absorbed tariff and component costs everywhere except the headline console price.

• Nintendo of America · Apr 18, 2025 · However, Nintendo Switch 2 accessories will experience price adjustments from those announced on April 2 due to changes in market conditions. Other adjustments to the price of any Nintendo product are also possible in the future depending on market conditions.
• Variety · Apr 18, 2025 · Following an initial delay, Nintendo has set the preorder date for its Switch 2 console for April 24. The Japan-based company has also decided to keep the upcoming product’s cost at the previously announced $449.99 price tag amid market concerns surrounding President Trump’s tariffs policy — but it’s hiking the price of accessories because of “market conditions.”

The Switch 2 Direct: June 5 launch, ¥49,980 in Japan and $449.99 in the US, Mario Kart World at $79.99

Nintendo set the launch for June 5, 2025 at ¥49,980 for a Japanese-language system and $449.99 in the United States, with a Mario Kart World bundle, a bigger screen, magnetic Joy-Con 2 controllers that work as a mouse, and GameChat voice and video chat. The price, $150 above the original Switch, became the story of the next two months as Trump's tariffs landed the same day.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Apr 2, 2025 · announced that its new game system, Nintendo Switch 2, will be released on June 5, 2025, at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of 49,980 yen. The Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World Set, which includes the system and a digital version of the Mario Kart World game (8,980 yen*), will also be released on the same date at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of 53,980 yen. *The manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the physical version is 9,980 yen.
• Nintendo of America · Apr 18, 2025 · At launch, the price for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will remain as announced on April 2 at $449.99, and the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle will remain as announced at $499.99.
• Nintendo of America · Apr 2, 2025 · In addition, for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics will be released right at the system’s launch.

Nintendo Switch 2 revealed: a 2025 release, and it plays Switch games

Nintendo showed the Switch 2 for the first time in a short video and confirmed a 2025 release and backward compatibility with physical and digital Switch games, with details held for a dedicated Nintendo Direct on April 2 and hands-on events in cities worldwide from April. The name settled the question of whether the console was a successor or a new platform: it was Switch, again.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd. · Jan 16, 2025 · Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, "Nintendo" hereafter) announced that Nintendo Switch 2, the successor to Nintendo Switch, will be released in 2025. Today, Nintendo offered a first look at Nintendo Switch 2 in a video introducing the hardware. Nintendo Switch 2 plays Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games.

Furukawa: the Switch successor will be announced within the fiscal year

Alongside results showing Switch sales of 15.7 million and a forecast of 13.5 million for the year ahead, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa posted that the company would announce the successor to Nintendo Switch within the fiscal year ending March 2025, more than nine years after the Switch itself was first revealed. It ended years of speculation about when the seven-year-old console would be replaced.

• CNBC · May 7, 2024 · Nintendo on Tuesday said it will announce the successor to its flagship Switch this fiscal year, after the company forecast a sharp drop in profit as it predicts fewer sales of its ageing console. The new Switch will be announced in the fiscal year ended March 2025, according to a Google-translated post on X from the company which quotes Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa.