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U.S. families with young gamers can breathe a sigh of relief this week as Goldman analysts told clients that the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 won't see price hikes due to the ongoing trade war.

Nintendo's hotly anticipated Switch 2 is now available for pre-orders at major U.S. retailers as of early Thursday morning. 

According to the tech blog Tom's Guide, demand for the new console is so intense that major retailers' websites are crashing, with "sold out" notifications appearing across some platforms operated by Walmart, Target, and Best Buy.

Nintendo Switch 2 will retail for $449, with the Mario Kart World bundle costing $499.

The good news for U.S. families who are avoiding tariff landmines as President Trump tries to negotiate an 'America First' trade deal with the Communist Chinese is that Goldman gaming analysts Minami Munakata and Haruki Kubota said console prices will remain at pre-trade war levels.

Here's more color on this from Munakata:

Munakata explained to clients Nintendo's move to keep console prices at pre-trade war prices "makes sense in view of potential medium- to long-term impact on software sales." 

She continued:

Separately, an overnight report from Bloomberg stated that the demand for Switch 2 in Japan has been "overwhelming."

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa wrote on X:

Pelham Smithers of Japan-focused equity research house Pelham Smithers Associates said Japan accounts for about a third of the global Switch installation base, which implies 6.6 million pre-orders globally. 

Back to Goldman's Munakata, she provided more details about Nintendo's tariff impact:

Despite the tariff impacts, Munakata remained "Buy" rated on Nintendo…

Last month, Munakata wrote a note stating that Switch 2 will "unlock dormant hardware and dormant users" and send "the number of active consoles to continue to renew record highs."

Separately, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI's release later this year is expected to provide additional tailwinds for the gaming industry, which had been stuck in a rut for years but appears to have entered a renewed growth trajectory in 2024.

The good news is that Switch 2 remains at pre-trade war prices.