Just because Nintendo has made the console official doesn't mean the Nintendo Switch 2 rumors are stopping anytime soon. Last week, a Costco employee may have revealed the Switch 2's price, with a placeholder price card for the console listing CAD$499.99, or around $350 USD. Now, a Nintendo Switch 2 console is reportedly on sale on the Chinese black market. All you'll need is a cool $40,000.
Yeesh, and here I thought the Apple Vision Pro was too rich for my blood. Granted, this information comes from a relatively sketchy source by way of the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit. The same leaker who shared early CAD renders of the console last year before its reveal posted screenshots of a conversation with a black market seller claiming to have gotten their hands on a Nintendo Switch 2. The price is broken down individually for the console itself, the dock, and Joy-Con controllers, totaling around $39,780 for everything after conversions. The seller also claims Pro Controllers for the Nintendo Switch 2 will be available sometime this week.
Now, despite there being some hints that this could be the real deal, there's no way of knowing for sure, so we suggest you take this Nintendo Switch 2 rumor with a healthy grain of salt. There's also the obvious question of why would anyone shell out the price of a new Tesla for a console set to launch later this year? Well, NintendoLife put forth a theory that I think has legs: This listing could be intended to scam accessory makers trying to get their hands on the console early to test out their products and potentially get ahead of the competition.
Still, $40,000 is a steep price tag for a potential leg up, so I'm skeptical there are any serious buyers out there. And whether this seller actually has a Switch 2 to sell to begin with is anyone's guess. The Mario maker has promised to give us a "closer look" at the Switch 2 during a Nintendo Direct live stream on April 2, and I have no doubt more details will continue to leak before then.
In its initial reveal trailer, Nintendo said the Switch 2 will arrive sometime in 2025, but it's remained coy on the exact launch date. The console's specs are also still shrouded in mystery, though it's expected to sport an upgraded CPU and bigger screen. Just about the only upgrades Nintendo has shown us so far are the improved Joy-Con controllers, which slot onto the sides of the console via a new connection method that's believed to be magnetic, and a redesigned dock.
