UK escapes Nintendo price hike (for once) but rest of the world is less lucky

Nintendo has done exactly what was being widely predicted and announced price hikes for the Switch 2 (and original Switch) in a bunch of territories around the world, but there's immediate good news for the UK – it's not on the list.

While Japan is getting small hikes across basically the range of Nintendo consoles and services, and the Switch 2 is becoming more expensive in the US, Europe and Canada, the UK is absent from Nintendo's announcement, meaning its prices are staying the same for now.

This is no guarantee that the UK's prices will remain static forever, of course, but given that the non-Japanese price changes don't happen until 1 September 2026, it looks like the UK does have a stay of execution of at least a few months. That is, unless Nintendo UK has a separate announcement planned for some reason.

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That manes it's still a sensible time to buy the console, though, since it seems all but guaranteed to get more expensive at some poin, and can currently be had for less than £400 through Amazon UK.

If you're curious about those global price hikes, though, they're worth diving into. Where the Switch 2 is concerned, they go as follows:

• USA: New price of $499.99, up from $449.99
• Europe: New price of €499.99, up from €469.99
• Canada: New price of $679.99, up from $629.99
• Japan (Japanese-Language System): New price of ¥59,980, up from ¥49,980

From a percentage point of view that means Japan is being hit hardest, although its Japanese-only system was previously probably the most advantageous Switch 2 deal. It's also getting price rises for the Switch, Switch OLED and Switch Lite, each of around ¥10,000 (or around £45), and it'll be interesting to see if those hikes also end up spreading around the world.

With Japan also getting a wave of much smaller price rises for the various ways to access Nintendo Switch Online memberships, this all looks like a cautious first step from Nintendo, but one that likely foreshadows a tougher time for gamers.

Nintendo's clearly worried about sentiment, and is therefore trying to take this slowly and give people plenty of notice, but there's no getting around the fact that its console will be a worse deal on 1 September compared to before.

If you're interested in a Switch 2 and have the means to do so, then you're definitely going to want to buy one before then. If you're in the UK, meanwhile, you have a bit more time to save up and work out your budget, which feels like a rarity, and a pleasant one at that.