Nintendo has asked a US court to dismiss a lawsuit seeking a refund of part of the money paid by Switch 2 buyers. The case was filed in April 2026, when two Nintendo customers filed a lawsuit alleging that the Mario-maker has been using the tariff refunds to grow the company and not returning the extra portions charged from gamers.
Nintendo increased the price of Switch 2 controllers and the original Switch last year, following the imposition of US tariffs, which were later declared illegal by the US Supreme Court. Thus the case was filed. However, Nintendo has rejected the claim.
In its court filing, the company said it never promised that the console's price would change if tariffs were reduced. It also said customers knew the price before placing their orders and chose to buy the console at that amount. Therefore, there are no legal reasons for the company to give them refunds.
The dispute goes back to the Switch 2 pre-order period. Nintendo delayed US pre-orders while it looked at the possible effect of new tariffs. When pre-orders finally opened, the company kept the console's price the same, although the controller became $5 more expensive.
After the tariff was declared illegal, Nintendo reportedly secured tariff refunds, which led to the lawsuit. California-based Gregory Hoffert and Washington-based Prashant Sharan sued the company in the Western District court seeking class action status to represent all people in the US who purchased price-hiked Nintendo goods between February 1, 2025 and February 24, 2026.
About the lawsuit, Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa stated, “Our basic policy is that for any country or region, if tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as a part of the cost and incorporate them into the price.”
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The case is about more than just Nintendo. It also raises a bigger question for many businesses. If a company saves money with reduced tariffs, does it have to lower prices for customers? In most cases, the answer is no. Companies usually decide their own prices unless they have made a clear promise or broken consumer protection laws. Lower costs do not always mean lower prices at the store.