The original Nintendo Switch price will be reduced, but the Nintendo Switch Lite will stay at its original lower price.
When the Nintendo Switch launched on March 3, 2017, it was priced at £279.99 / US $299.99 / €329.99. At the time, people felt it was expensive for a portable console that wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as the PS4 and Xbox One.
Nintendo stuck to its guns, however, and the Switch still sold hand over fist. Nintendo knows what it’s doing, we are reminded, time and time again.
That launch price held firm for four years, and the venerable platform holder, developer and publisher opted instead to offer a cheaper entry point with the Nintendo Switch Lite in September 2019. The non-dockable, lighter console was priced at £199.99 / US $199.99 / €229.99 at launch. Like its bigger sibling, it has also stayed that way ever since.
Then everything changed when the Nintendo Switch OLED Model attacked.
Priced at £309.99 / US $349.99 / €364.99, the OLED Model isn’t more powerful (it’s not the Switch Pro people were expecting) but it does have a nicer screen, an ethernet jack in the dock, and a better kickstand.
Further reading: What’s the difference between the Nintendo Switch OLED Model and the original Nintendo Switch?
They’re neat updates, sure, but it did make people question why they would pay more for the Nintendo Switch OLED Model.
As if to answer that question, Nintendo has dropped the original Nintendo Switch price, from £279.99 / €329.99 to £259.99 / €299.99.
Nintendo told Eurogamer: “We made the price change before the launch of Nintendo Switch OLED Model so that the price differences between each model in Nintendo’s own retail channel, My Nintendo Store, would be what Nintendo judges to be appropriate for its own store.”
It’s worth pointing out that Nintendo doesn’t set an MSRP for other retailers. These are prices that Nintendo has reduced on its own store, and it’s expected that retailers will follow suit to not be left behind by Nintendo undercutting them.
The sharp-eyed among you will also notice that there’s no Nintendo Switch price reduction listed there in US Dollars. That’s because the Nintendo Switch price reduction has only been made in Europe.
Thus far, at least. Don’t be surprised if worldwide reductions follow before the Nintendo Switch OLED Model launches on October 8, 2021.
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