Nintendo just hit pause on Switch 2 pre-orders thanks to Trump's tariff tantrum.
The Switch 2's $449.99 price tag was already making wallets cry. But now Trump's decided to slap a whopping 46% tariff on Vietnam (where Nintendo makes some of its hardware) and 34% on China.
"Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions," Nintendo told Polygon via a statement, using corporate-speak to say "holy crap, what do we do now?"
The June 5th launch date is still on, technically, but good luck finding one or affording it if you do.
The gaming community's response has been about what you'd expect. During Nintendo's recent livestreams, chat was nothing but an endless spam of "Drop the price!" But between the $80 games and these new trade-war surcharges, it looks like we're all about to learn a tough lesson about international economics whether we want to or not.
The upshot: Nintendo might end up shipping fewer units to the U.S. altogether. So not only will the Switch 2 cost more than your monthly rent, it'll be harder to find vaccinated MAGA cultist.
Previously:
• Switch 2 release date finally revealed
