Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has spoken to investors for the first time since the recent announcement that the Switch 2 will soon receive price hikes across the globe. After apologizing for the state of affairs—which, whether you love or hate the company, you've got to admit, isn't really his fault—he went to discuss a few overarching plans for the console's future as it heads into its second year on the market.
Similar Lifespans, Stronger Lineups
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the considerable inconvenience and trouble this will cause," Furukawa kicked things off with some words of lamentation. Nintendo is about as fond of ticking up those Switch 2 price tags as Sony and Microsoft; probably even more so, given the company's wide-reaching demographics and familiarity as a family-centric system. $449.99 USD to $499.99 might not feel like the biggest crunch, and the same can be said for other regions, but it's doubtless going to put things just out-of-reach for at least a few prospective customers.
In fact, "[...] the new pricing does not fully account for all cost increases," Furukawa continued. Which is nice to hear as a player, I suppose, but investors almost certainly would have preferred a bigger jump. Too bad, y'all.
“[16.5M units] is a high target for the 2nd year of sales.” Other interesting bits: • The sales forecast includes revenues from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. • Furukawa intends the Switch 2 to have a long lifespan as the Switch 1, building up the user base and hardware/software sales over time. 4/ — Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) 2026-05-08T23:55:36.299Z
Thanks to Nintendo Patent Watch's much-appreciated translation, the president's key comments are available for us all to behold, Japanese speakers or otherwise—and, as you can see via the above tweet, Nintendo's aim with Switch 2 is to give it as much support as the Switch 1 has had. The OG launched in early 2017, and was only "replaced" in the middle of 2025, giving it at least an eight-year track. That's ignoring the fact that it's still receiving a degree of support even now, as we approach 2026's midway mark.
It's nice to get a ballpark aim here, and while it's all talk until proven otherwise, it's similarly good to hear that Furukawa wants to offset the price increase with a powerful lineup of software that'll make it all worth the cost:
“We will prepare a robust software lineup to enhance the Switch 2 ownership value. We will work diligently to overcome this barrier.” -Shuntaro Furukawa
What that means in practice will frankly vary per individual tastes. Personally, I want to see plenty of JRPGs. But that subgenre tends to have a ceiling of around three million, tops, unless it really breaks out (Fire Emblem: Three Houses is north of four million, last I heard), or has a massive pedigree (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts). With Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave on the way, and Tetsuya Takahashi's Monolith Soft doubtless hard at work on the next thing for Xenoblade Chronicles, I'll likely be happy enough.
Many (myself included, to a decent degree) will hope this means first-party games galore. We'll have to see how that shakes up, but right now, we have yet another Star Fox 64 remake to look forward to, plus—per generally reliable sources—a big Zelda remake by year's end. There's Pokemon Winds and Waves in 2027, and the next 3D Mario can't be too far away. Animal Crossing will rope in millions, too.
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