Summary
If you’ve ever worked a job in video game retail, you’ll be well aware that profit margins on brand-new hardware and software aren’t good. It’s why companies like GameStop in the US and GAME in the UK have historically been so keen to sell pre-owned products and enhanced memberships, where they can dictate the margins and, alongside the rise in digital game sales, these lower margins have likely dictated these companies' moves into selling products not directly gaming-adjacent.
Yesterday,Bloombergreleased a report suggestingNintendowas making a retailer-friendly move in Japan, which saw the manufacturer’s share prices tumble. However, it didn’t take long for Nintendo to rebuff these claims.
Nintendo Says It Isn’t Giving Japanese Retailers Better Profit Margins On The Nintendo Switch 2
According to Bloomberg, Nintendo had reduced the wholesale price ofNintendo Switch 2units in Japan. It allowed retailers to make a gross margin of around five percent on the console, as opposed to the two percent they usually receive. This would mean that retailers are making roughly $22.49, up from $8.99. It’s unclear if the two are related, but following the news, Nintendo’s shares dropped by 2.2 percent, Bloomberg reports.
Clearly unhappy, Nintendo issued astatementvia its corporate Twitter account, stating the report from Bloomberg was “not true.”
“On July 23, 2025 (JST), a news report related to the wholesale price of Nintendo Switch 2 in the Japanese market was published,” it said. “We want to clarify that this report is not true. Nintendo does not disclose any information regarding business conditions with distribution and retail partners.”
It’s very rare that Nintendo comments on individual news reports, so it’s likely that this one from Bloomberg widely missed the mark, or it contains factual information Nintendo doesn’t want retailers around the world to see.
It’s another unusual situation in what has been a less-than-optimal build-up to the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch later this week. The use ofGame Key Cards has not gone down well with the physical collector community, and there was a public outcry when it was revealed that theNintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tourwould be a paid title,rather than a pack-in.
