The gaming industry is in a bit of a sticky wicket right now, and we don’t mean that as a joke. While software sales are still plentiful and demand for the three main consoles and the Steam Deck, are through the roof, there is still a major problem going on. That problem is the lack of semiconductors in the world right now, which are vital for making all of the major gaming platforms. That is the main reason why there is a supply issue even though the demand is begging for more. Despite this, the Nintendo Switch isn’t going to budge on its price, unlike one of its rivals.
You might recall that yesterday, Sony dropped a major bombshell when it revealed that in basically every market but the United States, it was going to hike up the price of its system. They said it was a “difficult choice to battle inflation” in certain parts of the world. This is curious because the US is going through inflation pretty badly right now.
To counter that, Microsoft came forward and said that it wasn’t going to increase the price of the Xbox Series X/S.
Nintendo had already commented on its position on things during a recent shareholders meeting. However, in light of what Sony did, Nintendo UK made the following statement:
“While the final price to consumers is always determined by retailers, as Mr. Furukawa stated, Nintendo has no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware.”
Now, there are some things that Nintendo is doing to try and counteract some of what’s going on, but that’s more in the realm of Nintendo putting the Switch in smaller boxes in order to save space and money. They’re trying to make it easier to make another Switch and make money off of it, versus Sony just hiking up the price to try and “combat inflation.”
One could argue that Nintendo would have the biggest reason to try and hike up the price of its system, as they have a pretty good software lineup coming up in terms of both first and third-party titles to help them end the year strong. The fact that they aren’t doing that speaks volumes.
Sony is getting a lot of backlash on this issue, and many are wondering if they’ll backpedal. Regardless if they do or don’t, you can at least take heart that the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S will stay the same price.
Source: VGC
