Nintendo Faces Class Action Over Tariff-Related Price Hikes

Nintendo’s tariff playbook is now a legal risk as well as a pricing one. Two consumers filed a proposed class action against Nintendo of America in federal court in Washington state on April 21, arguing the company passed tariff costs on to buyers and could later collect refunds if the government returns the duties.

The suit names Gregory Hoffert of Northern California and Prashant Sharan of Seattle. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and says Nintendo raised prices on some Switch accessories by $1 to $10 during the tariff period. The proposed class would cover Nintendo customers from Feb. 1, 2025, through Feb. 24, 2026, and the complaint includes unjust enrichment and Washington Consumer Protection Act claims.

The timing matters because the case follows a major Supreme Court ruling on Feb. 20, when the court held in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. That decision opened the door to refund demands across import-heavy businesses, even as the path to recovery remained uncertain.

Nintendo has already tried to claim its own share. The company filed a tariff-refund lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade on March 6, seeking repayment of duties it said were unlawfully collected under the Trump tariffs. The case was stayed three days later. Bloomberg reported that nearly 1,000 new tariff-related cases have been filed in U.S. trade court since March 1, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection has also launched an online refund portal for businesses.

For Nintendo, that means the issue is no longer confined to customs lawyers and finance teams. Pricing decisions now sit at the center of a public fight that can spill into communications, customer support, legal, and launch planning. When Switch accessories rise by a few dollars and consumers see a company asking for its own refund, the story stops looking like routine import accounting and starts looking like a trust problem.

That tension was already visible around the Switch 2. In 2025, Nintendo said the new system would stay at $449.99 in North America, even as some accessories rose roughly 5% to 6%, including the Pro Controller, Joy-Con 2 pair, dock, and camera. The new lawsuit asks whether those increases were a temporary tariff pass-through or a permanent margin move. For Nintendo employees working on pricing, support scripts, and launch messaging, the answer could shape how every future price change is received.