Nintendo Stock Crashes 34% as Switch 2 Price Hike Backfires, Slay the Spire 2 Review Bombed
ICYMI: Nintendo's price hike didn't save them, and Slay the Spire 2 got nuked over a consulting credit.
Nintendo raised the Switch 2 price by $50 and the market punished them anyway, with the stock now down 34% on the year. Slay the Spire 2 got review bombed by gamers over a single credit. And Cloudflare laid off 20% of its workforce while blaming AI.
Hereâs what actually happened on each, in case you missed it.
Nintendo Stock Down 34% on the Year After Switch 2 Price Hike
Nintendo stock crashed Monday after the company announced its Switch 2 price hike on Friday. Shares dropped 8.4% in Tokyo to 7,020 yen, the lowest level since August 2024. Year-to-date losses now exceed 34%, marking Nintendoâs worst annual stretch in roughly ten years per Bloomberg.
The Switch 2 price will rise from $449.99 to $499.99 in the US effective September 1. Japan goes from „49,980 to „59,980 starting May 25. Canada moves to $679.99. Europe to âŹ499.99. The driver is unprecedented memory chip price increases caused by AI infrastructure demand crowding out consumer electronics manufacturers in the DRAM supply chain.
But the price hike alone isnât what spooked investors. Nintendo also issued a bleak FY27 forecast. The company projects 16.5 million Switch 2 units for the current fiscal year, down from the 19.86 million sold since launch. Revenue guidance of 2.05 trillion yen came in 11.4% below the prior year and well short of analyst expectations of 2.46 trillion. Operating profit guidance of „370 billion landed about „110 billion beneath consensus.
President Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged the challenges but pointed to software as the answer, citing PokĂ©mon Pokopiaâs impact on hardware sales. âThe fact that PokĂ©mon Pokopia contributed to hardware sales reaffirmed for us that having software people genuinely want to play is a key factor in encouraging migration to Nintendo Switch 2,â Furukawa said.
The bigger problem is the 2026 software lineup. Nintendo doesnât have a clear killer-app on the calendar before the holiday window. Star Fox in June is solid but isnât a Breath of the Wild. Until Nintendo shows whatâs coming next, the stock is going to keep struggling regardless of pricing decisions.
Slay the Spire 2 Got Review Bombed Over Anita Sarkeesian
Slay the Spire 2 got review bombed after Anita Sarkeesian appeared in the gameâs credits. Thousands of gamers reportedly purchased the game specifically to negative-review it on Steam because of her involvement.
Sarkeesian remains one of the most polarizing figures in the gaming industry roughly a decade after the Gamergate era. Her appearance in any gameâs credits continues to function as a flashpoint for the same segment of gamers who organized against her work in 2014-2015.
The interesting part of this story isnât that the review bombing happened. Itâs that buyers spent actual money to leave negative reviews. Steam requires a purchase before a review can be posted, which means every negative review represents a paid copy of the game. The review-bombers funded the developers in the process of trying to hurt them. Whether thatâs a strategic miscalculation or a deliberate trade-off â pay $25 to lower the Steam score by an aggregate fraction â is the question.
The damage to Slay the Spire 2âs Steam reception is real because Steam reviews drive discovery and conversion for indie titles. Whether the developers had any idea this would be the reaction when adding Sarkeesian to the credits is unclear.
The fight from a decade ago apparently isnât over.
Cloudflare Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce
Cloudflare laid off 20% of its employees and blamed AI for the cuts. The official line is that AI productivity gains made the headcount unnecessary. The actual line is that the tech industryâs adult-daycare era is over.
The era of free food, unlimited PTO, and headcount-as-prestige is functionally over across most of the major tech employers. Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Salesforce have all run multiple layoff rounds in the past 18 months. AI is the convenient explanation. The real driver is that the zero-interest-rate hiring binge of 2020-2022 created roles the post-ZIRP economy canât support.
What makes the Cloudflare cuts notable is the percentage. 20% in a single round is aggressive even by current standards. The signal is that the company expects to operate at meaningfully smaller scale going forward, not just trim some excess.
For tech workers, the message is that the learn to code era is being followed by the learn to do something else era. The bull run is over.
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Japanese Devs Will Strike You for Streaming Their Game
Youâre not allowed to stream Steins;Gate Re:Boot per the developers, or you will get banned. Streamers who post gameplay are reportedly facing direct strikes from the developer rather than just standard DMCA action.
The position is unusual for the Japanese game development space. Most major studios have moved toward streaming-friendly content policies over the past several years because the marketing value of streamers showing the game outweighs the lost sales from people watching instead of playing.
Steins;Gate Re:Boot is taking the opposite position. The game is heavily narrative and the developer apparently considers playthroughs a meaningful spoiler risk that hurts paid sales. Whether that calculus actually holds up against the lost marketing reach is the open question.
The broader signal is that Japanese developer policies on streaming, AI, and fan engagement are diverging meaningfully from Western industry norms. This is one more data point in that direction.
Hollywood Union Accused of Violence and Intimidation
The WGAW union has been accused of choosing violence during its recent strike actions. According to leadership statements, the union explicitly framed certain tactics as confrontational rather than peaceful.
Specific allegations involve intimidation of non-striking workers and physical confrontations at picket locations. The unionâs official position acknowledges the aggressive posture as a deliberate strategy choice.
The story matters because Hollywood labor relations are in their worst state in decades. The 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes set a confrontational tone that hasnât fully reset. The 2026 disputes are continuing that pattern with each side digging in further.
How the broader public reacts to the we chose violence framing will likely shape the next round of contract negotiations.
Twitch Cracks Down on Viewbotting
Twitch careers could end over viewbotting under the platformâs new enforcement push. Twitch is now penalizing any creator who buys views, and the policy reportedly extends to creators who unknowingly receive viewbotted traffic from third parties.
The second part is the controversial piece. Creators are responsible for their channelâs traffic patterns even if they didnât authorize the botting. Anyone with a hater willing to artificially inflate their numbers could theoretically get penalized for the third-party action.
The intent is to clean up the platformâs viewership metrics, which advertisers have been complaining about for years. The execution risks punishing creators for things they had no control over.
This is going to generate appeals, lawsuits, and creator exodus to YouTube and Kick over the next few months.
Bank of America Says GTA 6 Must Cost $80
Bank of America has decided that GTA 6 must cost $80 because the AAA gaming industry canât sustain itself at $70 per title. Honestly, this isnât news to anyone who has been paying attention. GTA 6 costing $80 has been the assumed outcome for the past year. The Bank of America commentary just makes the assumption official.
Whatâs more interesting is whether $80 is the new floor or just the GTA 6 ceiling. If other publishers follow the model, the AAA segment becomes meaningfully more expensive for the average gamer at the exact moment the broader consumer-tech market is also raising prices on everything else.
The deflationary curve that defined gaming for 30 years has been reversing for the past few years. $80 GTA 6 would make the reversal official.
Worth Tracking
A few more items worth knowing about. Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya told fans calling Bayonetta an LGBTQ icon to disappear in a viral X exchange, continuing his pattern of pushing back hard on Western fan reinterpretations of his characters.
Thatâs the week. Catch the full breakdowns on the Clownfish TV YouTube channel where the actual rants live, or read the full posts at ClownfishTV.com.
Article compiled and edited by the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
ClownfishTV.com video posts (May 9-11, 2026) â primary source for the weekâs coverage
Bloomberg, âNintendo Stock Plunges 8.4% on Switch 2 Price Hike and Weak Sales Forecastâ (May 11, 2026)
CNBC, âNintendo plunges 8% after Switch 2 price hike and weak sales forecastâ (May 11, 2026)
Nintendo Co. Ltd. FY25 earnings release and FY27 forecast (May 8, 2026)
Wccftech, âNintendo Stock Craters 12% After Switch 2 Price Hikeâ (May 11, 2026) â Furukawa Pokemon Pokopia quote
Steam review data and Slay the Spire 2 developer credits coverage (May 2026)
Cloudflare Inc. layoff announcement (May 2026)
Steins;Gate Re:Boot developer streaming policy statements (May 2026)
WGAW union strike-action coverage (May 2026)
Twitch viewbotting enforcement policy announcement (May 2026)
Bank of America equity research report on AAA gaming pricing (May 2026)
Hideki Kamiya X exchange coverage (May 2026)
"The interesting part of this story isnât that the review bombing happened. Itâs that buyers spent actual money to leave negative reviews. Steam requires a purchase before a review can be posted, which means every negative review represents a paid copy of the game. The review-bombers funded the developers in the process of trying to hurt them. [...]" Huh! I didn't know about this aspect.