The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller isa fine piece of hardwarethat compliments its console perfectly. It’s also expensive.Very expensive. These are turbulent economic times, and there was more than enough sticker shock for the Switch 2 itself. The US wasn’t even the hardest-hit territory, but it’s certainly one of the biggest, and the House of Mario dared to request $449 for the console - $499 if you want a discount on thesimilarly priceyMario Kart World. Which most of us did.
As for the controller, the original plan was to charge $80 USD. That would be, on average, five bucks higher than the standard PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. After theongoing tariff fiascopushed Nintendo to maneuver around a console cost hike in favor of more expensive accessories, $80 became $85. Let me re-emphasize,these are turbulent economic times. And consumer sentiment toward the Switch 2’s asking price was fairly bleak, to begin with. In such an environment, how well could an $85 add-on actually sell?
A 32 Percent Attach Rate Is Big News In This Economy
Consider, for a moment, that the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller is not mandatory. The company’s built-in Joy-Con 2 controllers willget the job donefor plenty of gamers. Not yours truly, but still. Factor this key element into the amount of cash that early Switch 2 adopters are already spending without further splurging, and it’s pretty darn impressive that 512,000 of these gamepad-style controllers were sold in the US in the Switch 2’s June 2025 launch month.
As reported by Circana industry analyst Mat Piscatella and noted over at Game File,just north of half a millionSwitch 2 Pro Controllers went straight into consumers' hands in the system’s inaugural month. That’s “only” 32 percent, but really, roughly one in three people who lined up or constantly refreshed retailer websites? Dropping $450 to $500, plus tax, and throwing down nearly $100 more? Some people are made of money, I guess, but I assure you, the vast majority of us are not.
There’s a wider consideration to be had in all this, though: folks who rush to purchase shiny new video game hardware are the hardcore sector, and they’re clearly willing to invest heavily right from the jump this generation. In a response to IGN, Piscatella hasrightly pointed outthat “[l]ifetime sales and launch sales of a console often do not correlate.” Naturally, the same sentiment would apply to a console’s accessories, so 512k in June doesn’t mean remotely similar sales in the months to come.
“But having the biggest launch month sales for any new video game hardware platform is a helluva good start,” he adds in the same message - so yeah, the sky is, hypothetically, the limit. He further expands on Nintendo’s uncertain launch-year future:
Whatever financial fate awaits the Switch 2 and its second-generation Pro Controller in the months and years to come, that $85 eye-opener doesn’t seem to have done much damage toNintendo’s opening volley. Put plainly, then, $85 controllers probably aren’t going anywhere.
