Nintendo has no ‘plans’ to lower the price of the Switch in the US after the price cut in Europe

Nintendo recently announced that it was permanently reducing the price of the standard Switch model in the UK / Europe from £ 279.99 / € 329.99 to £ 259.99 / € 269.99. That’s a small drop, the first of its kind since the device was launched in 2017, and it led many to expect a similar price cut for US stores to be approaching. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. , at least for the foreseeable future.

Axios reporter Stephen Totilo (as revealed Chronicle of videogames) posted a tweet stating that he spoke to Nintendo about the possibility of lowering the price of the Switch on our shores, with the company saying it has “no plans” to do the same.

“The commercial price adjustment is only for the European region. There are no plans to change the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for any Nintendo Switch model in the US, ”the statement delivered to Totilo reads.

Nintendo switch OLED

The Switch launched in March 2017 at $ 299.99, and it has held that price tag ever since. Outside of the rare sales, the best way to get a cheaper Switch is to buy the Switch Lite for handheld devices only, which launched in 2019 and cost $ 249.99. While some have been understandably bothered by this stagnant price point, Nintendo has little incentive to turn things around. The Switch is one of the best-selling consoles ever and continues to perform well, moving more than 89 million units in total through August 2021.

Nintendo is currently gearing up to release the $ 349.99 OLED Switch (pictured above), a new model that features an improved screen and other minor tweaks, but runs on the same internal hardware so it’s not a true successor as many expected him to be before. its revelation. Nintendo gave a statement to Chronicle of videogames saying that the European price cut was made to make way for OLED, which launches on October 8.

“After carefully weighing a variety of factors, including currency exchange rates in Europe and the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch – OLED model, we decided that now was the right time to change the European retail price of Nintendo Switch.” read the statement.

I’m not an economist, but I can only assume that the reason the UK / Europe gets a price cut while the US is not simply about the difference in the markets. The numbers may show little reason to lower the price here, while those for Europe suggest otherwise. Or the company has another reason entirely because Nintendo. If you’re an American gamer still putting up with a price cut before finally taking the plunge on a Switch, you’ll just have to be patient a little longer.

[Sources: Stephen Totilo via Video Games Chronicle]