Nintendo has asked a US court to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit seeking a share of tariff refunds it may receive, arguing that Switch 2 customers "received exactly what they bargained and paid for" when they bought consoles, games or accessories at their stated prices. The dispute follows Nintendo's decision to raise prices on Switch 2 accessories and the original Switch last year, partly in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which the US Supreme Court has since ruled were illegal, triggering a collective $160 billion (£125 billion) refund pool for businesses that paid them. The case raises broader questions about whether consumers, rather than just companies, are entitled to compensation when tariffs later found unlawful had pushed up retail prices.

Nintendo's court filing contends that price rises reflected multiple factors beyond tariffs, including higher memory, labour and shipping costs, and that it deliberately avoided passing on the full tariff burden, absorbing costs on popular products such as the Switch 2 console itself, which has stayed at its launch price (though a rise is imminent). The company argued that commercial transactions are not retroactively adjustable and that dissatisfied buyers were free not to purchase or to choose rival consoles instead. A judge will now decide whether the class action can proceed or should be dismissed.