Nintendo Sabotages Ocarina of Time Remake With Switch 2 Price Increase

1 hour ago 2

Published May 8, 2026, 5:37 AM EDT

Scott Baird is a Staff Writer at DualShockers with over a decade of experience writing about video games, board games, and tabletop RPGs. He has been writing professionally since 2013 and covering games since 2018, with work spanning news, reviews, lists, guides, interviews, and event coverage.

Before joining DualShockers, Scott contributed to publications including The Escapist, Dexerto, TheGamer, CBR, and Gamepur. He has also worked as a full-time Pokémon writer at Dexerto and a features writer at TheGamer. Scott holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film & TV Production.

After months of speculation, Nintendo has announced a price increase for the Switch 2, which will have detrimental effects on the leaked remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The ongoing hardware price crisis has led video game companies to raise the prices of their hardware, with both Sony and Microsoft jacking up the cost of their consoles. Nintendo has already done this with the old Switch, but the Switch 2 was spared during its first year, remaining at the price revealed at launch.

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Nintendo has released its latest financial report, which contained some bad news: the price of the Switch 2 is going up worldwide. The official Nintendo Japan website has cited "changes in market conditions" as the reason, but at least some fans who are still on the fence will have time to buy it at its current price.

Nintendo Switch 2 Price Increase Coming September 2026

The price increase for the Nintendo Switch 2 will go into effect on May 25, but only in Japan. For the rest of the world, the price for the Nintendo Switch 2 goes up on September 1, 2026, and will cost $499 in the United States of America, and €499.99 in Europe.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the Nintendo Switch 2 price increase is how it will affect the leaked remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is said to be launching at the end of 2026. If the Nintendo Switch 2 gets a price bump before then, it will deter many people from taking the plunge, unless the game is given away for free as part of a bundle.

It's not as if the Nintendo Switch 2 has a stacked library, as only Pokémon Pokopia has excited fans this year. The rest of 2026 is home to the B-team: a single-player Splatoon spin-off, a remake of Star Fox 64, and a new Yoshi game. Sure, there's The Duskbloods, but that still lacks a release date.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has sold well, but that's because it's riding the coattails of its predecessor. The system is in dire need of amazing exclusives, and when the price bump takes effect, it's going to deter many people from checking out Nintendo's new system.