Nintendo Switch 2 is ‘under threat from soaring prices for data storage’ as owners buy fewer games, new report says

Console makers make some money from the systems they manufacture, but the real money comes from game sales. But what happens when folks buy fewer games? This is a situation Nintendo is now finding itself in. As you might have guessed, it's because of the ongoing RAM crisis.

According to Bloomberg, Nintendo Switch 2 owners are buying fewer games because the console only has 256GB of built-in storage, and it's becoming increasingly harder to upgrade storage thanks to increasing NAND prices. Ballooning game file sizes are only making the matter worse.

Nintendo's latest system is significantly more powerful than the original Switch, meaning it can handle beefier games, which are also far larger. The biggest game you can buy for the Switch 2 is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which takes up nearly 100GB of space, just less than half of the available onboard storage. Not quite Call of Duty on your PC numbers, but high nonetheless.

A gamer in Tokyo told Bloomberg that they used to "buy games on a whim." Now they have to be a bit more discerning "because the space is filling up so quickly, at a pace that I didn’t imagine.”

Bloomberg cited numbers that indicate the Switch 2 is selling less software than the original Switch. As of December 2025, the new console was selling an average of 2.18 games per console, and the Switch was higher at 3.88 average games.

Storage prices

It's hard to tell how much storage prices are actually going up, especially for the microSD Express cards that the Switch 2 requires.

When the Switch 2 launched, my colleague Anthony Spadafora recommended the Walmart in-house onn-branded memory cards for the Switch 2. At the time, the 256GB version could be had for $36, while the 512GB version was $66. Both have seen price increases to $46 and $84, respectively.

However, we compared the onn cards to the Best Buy exclusive Nintendo Samsung microSDXC, which was $60 a year ago and is still $60 as of this writing. The SanDisk 256GB card was also $60 last year and has retained that price, though the 512GB version is $99.

Of course, those prices are all on top of the $450 to $550 that you're spending on purchasing the console in the first place. Plus, games themselves are more expensive, with Mario Kart World breaking the $80 barrier last year.

Switch 2 prices could go up

Nintendo hasn't had an easy time since launching the Switch 2 in the spring of 2025. That was the year of tariffs, as the Trump administration instituted fluctuating and chaotic tax percentages that changed at a whim.

That has seemingly settled as the Supreme Court recently rejected President Trump's tariffs, though he did immediately turn around and demand 15% global tariffs across the board.

This year, the company, like most tech firms, faces increasing pressure from the ruinous memory crisis that is raising prices on everything from the best phones and best laptops to potentially the Switch 2.

So far, Nintendo has resisted increasing prices, but Nintendo President Shintaro Furukawa has not ruled it out. "The market environment is indeed challenging," he said in February.

Nintendo will probably be fine in the long term, but right now, the hits keep coming.

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