The Switch 2 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated launches of 2025. Announced for June 5th at a price of €469.99, with a special Mario Kart World bundle at €509.99, Nintendo's new console officially opened its pre-orders in the United States on April 24th at midnight. But as soon as sales began, fans' dreams quickly turned into into a digital nightmare.
While players in France have already been able to pre-order their copies for a few weeks, this was not the case for the United States. Indeed, Donald Trump's new policy has increased taxes on the console and Nintendo was unable to immediately adapt to this backlash. But the situation seems to have resolved itself, creating chaos among players.
Stocks are already being declared insufficient
Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, designated as primary partners for this first wave of pre-orders, all encountered major difficulties. Users were thrust into an invisible queue, an unnecessary anti-bot check plunged customers into an infinite refresh loop, and some sites didn't even respect the launch time before finally putting a queue online that was unsuccessful for the majority. Not to mention those who were able to add the console to the cart... before the payment process collapsed, generating absurd error messages or order cancellations in the process.
This chaotic rush is reminiscent of the equally disastrous debuts of the PS5 or the Xbox Series X. Five years later, nothing seems to have changed in the management of this type of highly anticipated launch. Worse still, hundreds of pre-ordered consoles immediately appeared on eBay, listed at over $700 – an increase of more than 50% compared to the initial price. Scalpers are not at their first attempt and know the inner workings of the matrix.
Even Nintendo can't guarantee anything
Nintendo, aware of the massive demand, had already warned that its direct sales system via the My Nintendo Store would not guarantee delivery for launch day, and even that invitations would not be sent until June 5. More than 2.2 million requests had been registered in Japan alone, forcing the company to publicly apologize. In the United States, the situation looks similar: colossal demand, insufficient stocks, and growing frustration.
Finally, while some are hoping for a second wind thanks to pre-orders from other retailers planned for later, there is no guarantee that the situation will improve. However, analysts estimate that the Nintendo Switch 2 could break records with 20 million units sold in one year... provided they can be manufactured, and above all, managed to sell them without digital disruption.
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