Nintendo just justified that controversial Switch price hike

The Nintendo Switch is nearly a decade old, and it’s been a year since the Switch 2’s release. The Switch’s contemporaries, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, have already been pronounced dead. Leave it to Nintendo to open up its first major Direct showcase of 2026 with an eccentric rhythm game that’s headed for both of its Switch consoles.

Support for the original Switch was a theme throughout the June 2026 showcase that focused on upcoming games. Nintendo is still keeping Switch 2 owners happy with exclusives like Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, The Duskbloods and Splatoon Raiders. But watching the showcase on Tuesday, it was slightly shocking to see just how many future Switch 2 games will run on the older console as well.

The list includes games like Rhythm Heaven Groove, Hello Kitty Party Land, Final Fantasy Resonance, One Piece: Grand Gourmet, Jujutsu Kaisen Rumble: Survivaton, Muramasa: Revenant Blades, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, Metal Gear Solid 2: Master Collection, Tales of Eternia: Remastered, among others. One of the most surprising reveals was that co-op anime game Orbitals is coming to both Switch consoles and will allow for GameShare regardless of platform.

Most of these, you’ll note, are third-party games. But Nintendo’s willingness to keep the console alive is still evident through the April 2026 release of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a first-party game that is playable on both platforms.

The announcements come nearly seven months after Nintendo revealed that the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED were all getting price hikes. By now, consumers are begrudgingly used to hearing that their favorite electronics and games are all becoming more expensive due to demand for AI-related components. Yet few were expecting to have to pay more in the future for a nine-year-old console that was technically outdated the moment it released. The Switch prices were especially jarring to hear because, at that point, Nintendo had not yet increased the prices on its newer console. The response to the original Switch’s price jump was like a communal scoff.

Then again, the age or technical prowess for a piece of technology is irrelevant when it comes to modern pricing trends. If it contains a computer chip, then chances are high that the product in question has become more expensive in recent years.

Nintendo’s continued support of the original Switch makes perfect, strategic sense. The quirky portable console has a significantly larger install base than the Switch 2, and may well be on track to becoming the best-selling console of all time. To ignore that existing market would be to leave money on the table. This is also the exact reason why it’s taken so long for some major franchises like Call of Duty to stop supporting the previous generation of hardware.

But where the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are finally being put out to pasture, the June 2026 Nintendo showcase proved there’s still plenty of life left in the original Switch. Beyond the slate of upcoming games, prices on a broader scale might influence how long the Nintendo Switch sticks around. Sure, it’s more expensive than it used to be — but a $229.99 Switch Lite stings a lot less than a $649.99 PlayStation 5.

If the near 13-year trajectories of the PS4 and Xbox One are any indication, the Switch might still be kicking by the time The Elder Scrolls 6 comes out. Limply kicking, but alive nonetheless.