Nintendo Switch 2 & upgrades come at a price
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Switching upwards
After the big reveal as promised on April 2nd, Nintendo opened the information gates on just what benefits the Switch 2 offers come its June 5th 2025 launch, and cost seems to play a big factor. The initial pricing of the console across main territories was not outside of the expected scope, but certainly closer to the higher end at £395.99 of your Great British pounds, which can be pre-ordered from Nintendo, Amazon and Argos among others. Those of you from America pay slightly more, likely helped by the $ value drop, of $449.99, both of which are without games.
Speaking of that, this is where the cost increases even further and has raised many an eyebrow and more online. Digital games are up to a new base of $80, some $10 over Switch games standard. But even upgrades to current or up coming switch titles, that will be enhanced on Switch 2 are coming with a charge. Right now only the Japanese site has notes for the potential charges of new games such as Kirby, being around $10 and Zelda Breath of the wild upgrade revealed alongside the console, costing closer to $20. But fear not, as Nintendo have a subscription based option that will enable, at least on a selection of games, for you to play the Switch 2 updates for free. The catch, you need the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Membership to gain “free” access to these updates. However, it is not known if these are permanent upgrades or just available so long as you have an active membership. The likely answer is the latter which would align with all gaming subscriptions services from Nintendo, Sony and Xbox.
The reveal was a mixed bag of news, games and limited information, with the shocking news that even the console specific “Guide” game was not free and would also come at a charge for us all. Even though the buzz around the console has cooled somewhat due to the lack of big games, pricing and limited information on the technical and performance updates the Switch 2 will bring. I would still expect the pre-orders to be sold out by the time you read this and you can remind yourself below if the new handheld is for you or a wait and see.