Trump’s Tariffs Cause Delay In Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Orders For American Market
Last week, Mike put together a detailed post explaining the Trump tariff rollout, how the calculations for it were built, some of the more idiotic aspects of it, and basically how stupid the whole program is. If you haven’t read the whole thing, you really should. If you want the briefest of summaries: Trump based his tariff rates not on opposing tariffs, but on trade deficits, which generally made no sense and also led to him declaring a trade war on an island filled with (presumably communist) penguins.
While it is all very, very dumb, the tariff program will also have very real world effects on Americans. The primary effect will be that a ton of stuff we regularly buy will get more expensive, as makers will pass along the cost of the import tax to all of us, while domestic companies will probably just raise their own prices as well to generate better margins with less competition. But higher prices are only one negative outcome for American consumers. International businesses have also watched the chaos that has been Trump’s messaging on tariffs such that some, like Nintendo, have decided to play a wait and see game.
Switch 2 pre-orders were supposed to begin on April 9. No longer. In an unprecedented move, Nintendo announced on Friday that it’s halting pre-orders for its upcoming $450 hardware launch because of new tariffs in the U.S. set to go into effect beginning on April 5.
A statement from Nintendo, first obtained by GameSpot, reads: “Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.”
As a result of this, major American retailers that were about to start collecting revenue for the pre-orders, well, won’t. It’s a temporary situation, certainly. The Switch 2 will eventually be sold in America. But you don’t get this time back, either. On the heels of Nintendo announcing the new console publicly, this is exactly when you want to cash in on the hype by taking in pre-orders for the console. American retailers are going to miss out on that, it seems.
And the demographic cross-section that is represented by gaming customers is both expansive and not the sort of folks the GOP should be looking to piss off politically. Young people and families make up the customer base. These are the exact people that Trump and Republicans rode to victory. And the exact people that can do the most damage to the GOP in the midterms.
The rest of the gaming industry had damned well better be paying attention to this, given what it portends for their businesses down the road.
The Entertainment Software Association, a U.S. trade group that represents Nintendo and other gaming companies, said the tariffs “are going to have a real and detrimental impact on the video game industry.” ESA senior vice president Aubrey Quinn told Game File this week “Every company, every industry, the video game industry included, needs to think about what’s best for consumers, best for business, and best for employees. Supply chains are complicated and, certainly, supply chains don’t change overnight. Everything that is considered or decided can’t be a quick turnaround and can’t be a knee-jerk reaction to any particular announcement.”
It’s not a secret that I don’t think much of the ESA generally, but it’s also notable that this industry group’s sole reason for being is to lobby for whatever is best for the big gaming industry players. When that group is issuing warnings about Trump’s tariff program, you know we’re in for a bumpy ride.