Nintendo Switch Online is getting a price increase in Japan
No other regions have price increases confirmed yet
Nintendo has is increasing the price of its Nintendo Switch Online service in Japan next week.
Switch Online is Nintendo‘s subscription service for Switch and Switch 2, which offers such features as online multiplayer, cloud saves, voice chat via mobile and GameChat.
It also provides access to Nintendo Classics, Nintendo’s on-demand libraries of retro NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Boy and Mega Drive / Genesis games.
The price for Switch Online has remained the same ever since it launched back in March 2017, but Nintendo has now re-confirmed that the price will be increasing in Japan.
As of July 1, the price of a Switch Online will increase to the following (dollar price equivalents for comparison only):
- Individual plan (1 month) – was ¥306 ($1.89), now ¥400 ($2.47)
- Individual plan (3 months) – was ¥815 ($5.04), now ¥1,000 ($6.19)
- Individual plan (12 months) – was ¥2,400 ($14.86), now ¥3,000 ($18.58)
- Family plan (12 months) – was ¥4,500 ($27.87), now ¥5,800 ($35.93)
- Switch Online + Expansion Pack (12 months) – was ¥4,900 ($30.35), now ¥5,900 ($36.55)
- Switch Online + Expansion Pack – Family Plan (12 months) – was ¥8,900 ($55.13), now ¥9,900 ($61.33)
At the time of writing, Nintendo has only confirmed that South Korea will get a price increase too, but doesn’t appear to be planning a Switch Online price increase anywhere else.
Japan is likely the only major market that will get the price hike because of the ongoing weakness of the yen, which has been near its lowest levels (compared to the US dollar) since 1986.
When it first announced that the price hike for Switch Online was coming to Japan, Nintendo said: “Nintendo Switch Online is offered as a globally unified service, and pricing will be revised to support appropriate alignment among regions.”
As the yen continues to struggle, the result is a larger discrepancy in price between digital services on Switch Online. As a result, a 12-month Switch Online plan currently costs the equivalent of $14.86, whereas in the US it costs $19.99. Next week’s price increase in Japan will take it up to around $18.58.
It’s almost certain, then, that Nintendo’s price increase will be limited to Japan in order to ensure the price of Switch Online is closer aligned between regions.
Nintendo recently increased the price of Switch and Switch 2 in Japan, a move that took effect on May 25 and saw the price of the ‘Japan-only’ region-locked Switch 2 rising from ¥49,980 ($309) to ¥59,980 ($371).
Whereas Switch Online price increase hasn’t yet been confirmed for the West, a hardware price increase has – starting on September 1, the price of Switch 2 consoles will rise in the United States, Canada and Europe.
