A report indicates that Nintendo Switch 2 users are purchasing fewer games on average than owners of the original Switch did at a similar sales milestone. This is attributed to larger game file sizes consuming the console's limited 256GB onboard storage, coupled with rising costs for external microSD Express cards due to a storage chip shortage.
The high price of expanding storage is causing gamers to be more selective, which threatens Nintendo's software sales—a primary source of profit as the hardware itself is sold with thin margins. In response, Nintendo is offering its own branded 256GB storage cards at a subsidized price to alleviate the issue for consumers.
Main topics: Nintendo Switch 2, game sales decline, storage capacity limitations, rising storage costs, impact on Nintendo's business model.
Nintendo Switch 2 users buying fewer games because of AI storage crisis, report claims — game demand under threat as titles get bigger and storage gets more expensive
Increasing storage costs mean that fewer people are buying games for their Switch 2 gaming handhelds.
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Nintendo is facing pressure from the AI shortage, as increasing NAND prices are doing more than just hiking the company’s costs to build the popular Switch 2 gaming handheld. According to Bloomberg, some users are reportedly balking at purchasing new titles, especially as the console’s specs limit its onboard storage to just 256GB. The fact that it uses more powerful hardware than the original Switch means that its game titles are now significantly larger. For example, the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, one of the major franchises on the Nintendo platform, is about 102.5GB, meaning it will take up around 40% of the console’s onboard storage.
One gamer told the outlet that they used to buy games "on a whim," but are now more cautious "because the space is filling up so quickly, at a pace that I didn’t imagine.” According to figures collated by Bloomberg, Switch 2 software sales momentum "lags behind the original Switch's." As of the end of 2025, it calculates that the average number of games purchased per console is just 2.18. When the Switch reached the same sales milestone of around 17 million units, that figure was 3.88, a marked decrease in Switch 2 game sales.
If you’re a collector and like to have a ton of games installed on your console, vastly larger titles like Final Fantasy mean you'd have to purchase external storage to increase your Switch 2’s capacity. Although you can easily get one of the best microSD Express Cards from Amazon, they’re more expensive than ordinary microSD cards, and the storage chip shortage is not doing gamers (or Nintendo) any favors. For example, the 512GB TeamGroup Apex microSD Express Card cost around $100 in late 2025 but now sits at $114.99 on Amazon. The 1TB Lexar Play Pro is far more expensive, too — it’s currently priced at $219.99 on Amazon, although it used to cost less than $190 before the shortage.
These price increases on the Switch 2’s storage solutions are giving gamers pause when shopping for new games — and that’s a problem for Nintendo. Although the company does not sell its hardware at a loss (unlike Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation), it does so at exceedingly thin margins. That means it still relies on the sales of its games to make up for the majority of its profit. But with increasing game sizes, many users are now having second thoughts about buying games willy-nilly, especially as storage costs spiral out of control.
The company is attempting to help gamers by launching Nintendo-branded microSD Express cards made by Samsung. The report even claims that Nintendo has "secured concessions from retailers" to give up some of the profits on sales of these devices. They're currently available on Amazon for just $59.00, but at just 256GB, you’ll have to purchase several of these if you’re an avid game collector. Furthermore, this adds to the already relatively high price of $449 for the console, which was driven by the uncertainty of tariffs and global geopolitical events. And with titles already costing around $50 to $80, the need to spend extra for storage will definitely weigh more on gamers’ pockets and eat into Nintendo’s revenues.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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