Switch 2 preorders don’t begin in the U.S. until late tonight (12:01 a.m. ET on April 24), but they’ve already been underway in other parts of the world and even Nintendo has been shocked by the level of demand so far. The company said that, with over 2.2 million fans seeking to preorder a Switch 2 directly from My Nintendo in Japan alone, the demand already “far exceeds” its ability to fulfill shipments to that country at launch.
“We received an extremely large number of applications, approximately 2.2 million people in Japan alone,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa posted directly on X today. “However, this number far exceeds our expectations, and far exceeds the number of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles that can be delivered from the My Nintendo Store on June 5th. Therefore, unfortunately, we expect that a significant number of customers will not be selected when the winners are announced tomorrow, April 24th.”
He added that while the My Nintendo preorder lottery selection process will be ongoing, and retailers in Japan will begin taking preorders soon as well, it’s unlikely that everyone who wants to preorder a Switch 2 will be able to do so. “We deeply apologize for not being able to meet your expectations despite our prior preparations,” he added. Woof. Fans in the U.S. won’t know how My Nintendo preorders shake out here until May 8.
While that preorder situation is particular to Japan at the moment, it could soon become a recurring story across other countries as well. It’s certainly a rude wake-up call for anyone who thought the Switch 2 wouldn’t be hard to get at launch. Despite reports that the console was delayed precisely in order to provide more time for manufacturing extra units and stacking the Switch 2’s year-one launch lineup, it seems like early hype might still outstrip supply.
Some analysts are already predicting that Nintendo will sell 14.7 million Switch 2 units in its first 12 months, which would eclipse even the original hardware’s popular rollout in 2017. How that stock gets divided up between various markets remains to be seen. The Mario maker was reportedly shifting more of its inventory to the U.S. in recent months to avoid getting caught up in President Trump’s ongoing tariff war.
“With the cooperation of retailers, we will continue to ship the console and make efforts to get as many Nintendo Switch 2 consoles as possible into your hands,” Furukawa wrote. “We plan to continue producing and shipping a considerable number of Nintendo Switch 2 units in the future. We apologize for the delay in our ability to meet your expectations, and we appreciate your understanding.”
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