Nintendo has publicly claimed that the company does not have to refund consumers for console tariff-enforced price hikes.
For the uninitiated, last year Nintendo increased the prices of the base models of the original Nintendo Switch consoles to coincide with the massive US tariff push. Consoles increased by $30-$50 during that time (across the entire console lineup), and, seeing as tariffs were aimed at China (a known manufacturing hub for console parts), Nintendo placed the burden on consumers with price hikes.
After the US Supreme Court found that the tariffs were illegal in February and that US President Donald Trump did not have the right to impose them, in March 2026 more than 1,000 other companies (including the house that built Mario) sued the US Government for refunds on what they considered illegal tariffs. Two video game players, Gregory Hoffert and Prashant Sharan, decided to sue Nintendo that April, claiming that any money it recouped from tariff refunds should go to customers. This is because customers basically footed the bill for the tariffs by paying for them at checkout.
Today, GameFile published a report suggesting that Nintendo is seeking to have the class action lawsuit filed by the two fans dismissed on the grounds that fans “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying consoles at the inflated price. Before the price hikes went into effect, Nintendo reported extensively that the hikes would be happening, so their argument is basically that customers did not need to purchase consoles at the inflated pricing, but the customers themselves made a conscious decision to do so.
Fans on forums think this is the Switch developer ‘double-dipping’ into profits and leaving consumers with the bill, while other fans think the tariff implementation in the first place was the real issue. Nintendo’s lawyers argue that their practice is not unfair, and claimed the lawsuit is baseless. Refunding players when they agreed to a price is “not how commercial transactions work,” the company said. Nintendo took this a step further and said customers were not forced into buying any of their products at the increased price rate; consumers purchased devices anyway.
The company’s filing says, “Those who bought Nintendo’s products received exactly what they bargained and paid for – a console, game and/or accessory at a price to which both parties agreed,” adding, “The money Plaintiffs paid represents the purchase price of the goods they wanted and received – Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.”
While this is likely not the end of this saga with these illegal tariffs, it appears Nintendo is willing to let its customers keep the cost of the tariffs on their balance sheets, while it actively tries to erase the costs on its own.
