Nintendo tried to avoid raising prices on its nearly year-old Switch 2 for as long as it could, but in the end, even the mighty Mario maker couldn’t stave off the ongoing “RAMpocalypse” that’s caused the prices of just about all consumer electronics that require memory or flash storage to increase.
In its latest earnings report, Nintendo announced it would increase the price of the Switch 2 by $50. Starting on Sept. 1, the hybrid handheld console will cost $499.99 instead of the current $449.99 in the U.S. Other regions will also see price hikes, too. In Canada, the Switch 2 will increase from $629.99 to $679.99. In Europe, it’ll jump from €469.99 to €499.99.
Japan will get hit the worst. Starting on May 25, all models of the original Switch lineup, including the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch (OLED Model), and the Switch 2 will get substantial price hikes. Japan will also see higher prices for Switch Online and Switch Online + Expansion for both individual and family memberships starting on July 1.
It’s a dire moment for the gaming industry. Everything from devices to games is getting more expensive because there’s not enough memory or storage to go around for consumer products.
The “RAMpocalypse” that we’re currently in started late last year when memory makers such as SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, which used to sell RAM to consumer tech companies, reprioritized their businesses to sell RAM to AI companies like OpenAI, which require ungodly amounts of memory for their data centers. Without the ability to procure RAM at affordable rates, the prices for RAM (and SSDs) have skyrocketed, affecting everything from laptops to consoles.
In March, Sony jacked up the price of its PS5, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal remote player for the second time in a year. A PS5 that launched in 2020 for $500 now costs $650; the PS5 Pro that released in 2024 for $700 is now $900. And the consequences of the recent price hikes are not surprising. Sony announced in its fourth fiscal quarter that PS5 sales fell from 2.8 million units to 1.5 million units year over year—a massive 46% drop. Sony’s CEO Hiroki Totoki said it’s not planning to increase the PS5 price again, but how can it be sure what will happen in a year? Nobody can be certain.
“We had just had a price increase, so for the next price increase we don’t have that in plan,” Totoki reportedly said. “We will keep this current price so that we can manage the business based on this current price.”
It’s not only big gaming and tech companies getting rocked hard by the RAMpocalypse. Boutique companies, like AYN, that make small-batch products, such as the popular dual-screen Thor handheld, have been forced to not only hike prices for certain configurations, but also offer new, less-capable models to meet demand—“shrinkflation,” if you will.
Zooming out, the RAMpocalypse is so much worse than Trump’s illegal tariffs were a year ago.
I know this sounds wild to say, but if you’ve been waiting to get a Switch 2 or any gadget, my advice is to get it sooner rather than later before prices increase further. If you have to do your Christmas or birthday shopping a year in advance, do it. This is the reality we now live in—one that could continue on for the next few years.
