Two pieces of hardware news landed this week that are worth taking together. Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 will increase in price in the near future, citing global RAM and component shortages. Sony raised the price of the PlayStation 5 earlier this year for the same reasons. If you were planning to buy either console and haven’t yet, the window to do so at current prices is narrowing.
What’s Happening
Global RAM prices have been rising sharply through 2025 and into 2026, driven by a combination of supply constraints, increased demand from AI infrastructure, and ongoing semiconductor industry pressures. Modern games consoles are RAM-intensive by design — the Switch 2 uses LPDDR5 memory, the same type of chip under pressure across the whole consumer electronics market. When component costs rise, manufacturers either absorb the cost or pass it on. Nintendo and Sony have both chosen to pass it on.
Sony moved first. The PS5 price increase has already happened in multiple markets. Nintendo’s announcement this week confirmed the Switch 2 will follow. Specific new pricing hasn’t been confirmed at time of writing, but the direction is clear.
This Isn’t New
Console price increases mid-generation aren’t unheard of, though they’re unusual in markets where manufacturers typically hold pricing steady to maintain momentum. Sony raised the PS5’s price in 2022 — citing “high global inflation and other macroeconomic factors” — in Europe, the UK, Asia, and Australia. That increase was controversial at the time. This one has a more specific technical cause, but the effect for consumers is the same.
It’s also worth noting that this sits within a broader hardware pricing trend that we’ve covered previously — the same supply chain pressures are affecting gaming PC component costs, and there’s no obvious near-term reason for prices to fall significantly.
What It Means Practically
If you’re planning to buy a Switch 2 and haven’t, buying sooner rather than later is the straightforward advice. The same applies to PS5 stock at current pricing if any remains available at pre-increase prices in your region.
For anyone on the fence between current-generation hardware and a retro-focused setup — a Raspberry Pi arcade build, an Analogue Pocket, an Evercade — the price gap just got a little wider in the retro direction. A complete Raspberry Pi 5 retro gaming setup costs a fraction of a current-gen console and plays a library that spans five decades. That’s not a reason to avoid the Switch 2 if you want one. It’s context worth having.
Check Nintendo Switch 2 pricing on Amazon UK →
Check PS5 pricing on Amazon UK →
For more on hardware pricing and where the gaming industry is heading, see Why Your Next Gaming PC Is Going to Cost More — And Who’s Profiting.