Earlier this week, Sony announced that the PS5 is getting more expensive almost everywhere in the world outside the US, going up by £30 in the UK. In response to this, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not increase the price of the Xbox Series X or S. Now, in a statement to Eurogamer, Nintendo has confirmed that it too has “no plans” to increase the cost of the Switch. The statement confirmed Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa’s comments in June at the 82nd annual general meeting of shareholders, saying “”While we cannot comment on pricing strategies, we currently have no plans to change the price of our hardware due to inflation or increased procurement costs in each country. We will determine our future pricing strategies through careful and ongoing discussions.” “While the final price for consumers is always determined by retailers, as Mr. Furukawa stated, Nintendo has no plans to increase the retail price of its hardware,” the statement continued. It obviously came as a bit of a shock that the already incredibly elusive PS5 was going up in price, as consoles raising their prices is generally unheard of. Company president and CEO Jim Ryan explained that the move is “a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business.” Since the price change is so recent, it’s unclear how it might affect sales of the console, particularly since other regions are seeing a bigger price increase, such as Europe where the cost is increasing by €50, which is around £42. Although as industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls noted, speaking to Eurogamer, the change in pricing is unlikely to reduce demand or Sony’s bottom line.
