Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date and time: April isn't out of the question
Pushing back on the reporting that May 8 will be the first date, The Shortcut wants to prepare you to pre-order the Switch 2 ahead of time
📆 The Switch 2 US pre-order date could still happen in April
🍄 That May 8 pre-order date only pertains to the My Nintendo Store
🟢 Greenlight yet? US stores tell The Shortcut they’re waiting on Nintendo
💰 Every American store is sticking to the Switch 2 price of $449 so far
📧 The Shortcut subscribers will get the first pre-order links for US stores
The Shortcut is tracking Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US with exclusive and accurate information about when and where you’ll be able to reserve it. That’s why we had to correct reports that claimed May 8 will be the date you could pre-order the “first batch” of new consoles. US retailers may open up pre-orders in April.
The latest news today is that the United States will now exempt some tech products imported from China from the 145% tariffs. This is on top of the news that a 90-day pause is being put on new tariffs from select countries, including Vietnam, where the Nintendo Switch 2 is manufactured. But China still has a role in making some parts of the video game console (and almost all of the tech US consumers buy).
How to get Switch 2 pre-order alerts
Get our instant alerts: Your best chance to find a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order is to follow Matt Swider on X – and turn on notifications. It’ll look like:
Switch 2 pre-orders from these US stores
US retailers that The Shortcut talked to this week, including GameStop and Best Buy store managers, said they are waiting for Nintendo to give them the green light to launch Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders, both in-store and online. We also broke the news that Sam’s Club will be offering pre-orders of the Switch 2 by figuring out the non-indexed hidden pages for the console.
So far, five stores in the United States will take Switch 2 pre-orders, and none have strayed from the $449.99 price. Amazon is the only US retailer absent from the list, though the UK arm of Amazon did start accepting pre-orders on April 8 (one day ahead of the official global pre-order date).
Here are links to each Switch 2 US retailer:
🌟 Walmart Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (not in stock yet)
🏷️ Best Buy Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (not in stock yet)
🎯 Target Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (not in stock yet)
🛑 GameStop Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (not in stock yet)
🏬 Sam’s Club Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (not in stock yet)
📦 Amazon (not live; we’ll see if Amazon even sells it at launch)
According to our data, Nintendo’s pre-order date delay in the US has only heightened demand for the console through sheer awareness. Not everyone was paying attention to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch plans before this, but now the topic has entered the mainstream with this week’s economic news.
Nintendo is also doing a worldwide tour of the new console. It had lucky attendees demo it in New York last week, where The Shortcut was able to produce an in-depth Switch 2 hands-on review. This weekend, the Switch 2 is being demoed in Los Angeles, with Dallas tours scheduled for the end of the month. Nintendo’s exhibit has gone international, with Switch 2 tour stops in Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, London, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam and Melbourne.
Will Switch 2 pre-orders sell out
Yes. In the US, there’s a lot of demand for the Switch 2, and while it greatly depends on how much inventory Nintendo sends to the US, we’ve seen the console sell out in other regions of the world. Judging from how UK pre-orders went, I wouldn’t expect the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders to last more than a few minutes at popular stores like Best Buy, Walmart, Target and GameStop. Sam’s Club has a small barrier to entry by requiring a membership, so that may slow down consumers a little bit.
What we don’t expect is for any Switch 2 launch games to sell out, and we actually recommend worrying about pre-ordering these items after you’ve secured the Switch console pre-order. Most games, including Mario Kart World, are being offered digitally, so they technically can’t go out of stock. Similar thinking applies to the console, even though they’re physical items. Demand just isn’t there.
Our final recommendation is to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 bundle with Mario Kart World included for $500. It’ll save you $30 because Mario Kart World alone is $80, and the bundle tacks on just $50. Take that money and buy a Nintendo camera to participate in trash-talking among friends via Nintendo’s GameChat feature.
Matt Swider is the Editor-in-Chief of The Shortcut, the #1 consumer tech publication on Substack. Matt, a trusted technology expert with over 25 years of journalism experience and the former US Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, can be found on social media through X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
