The next Nintendo Switch will cost $499 or less, according to a Japanese analyst.
That leaves the door open for the console to be pretty expensive.
It's no longer anything even close to a secret that Nintendo is hard at work on a successor to the Nintendo Switch – it's mentioned the console multiple times, and now has to clarify that it won't be discussed anytime it schedules in a Nintendo Direct live stream.
Most of the signs point to a release date in early 2025, but that doesn't mean that other parts of Nintendo's strategy aren't being discussed. In fact, analysts are going haywire trying to figure out and predict what the console currently known as Nintendo Switch 2 will be capable of, and how it'll be priced.
One prominent Japanese analyst, Hideki Yasuda of Toyo Securities, has published a report making one clear prediction about the next Switch console – that it'll cost $499 or less, which comes to around £385.
That's a pretty interesting number to pick because it noticeably leaves the door open to Nintendo making its next console a good chunk pricier than the original Switch.
The Nintendo Switch launched at $299.99 in the United States, £279.99 in the United Kingdom, and A$469.95 in Australia – prices that have slipped only by a very small amount for a new console since then. The Switch OLED arrived at £310, $350 and AU $540 - which is still substantially below the ceiling estimated by Yasuda.
This means that we could be looking at a more expensive console than many people will have bargained for, but there's obviously no guaranteed that his analysis ends up being spot on.
It's true that since the Switch launched many components seem to have become more expensive – as proved by the lack of price cuts for the PS5 or Xbox Series X since their respective launches.
Still, Nintendo hasn't raised the Switch's price at any point, and it'll doubtless be very conscious of how much harder it'll be to get people to upgrade to a more expensive console, even if their Switch might be nearly eight years old by the time a replacement is out.
We likely won't find out pricing for the console for a little while yet, but this is interesting food for thought – and potentially a good prod for you to start saving.
