We’re tracking the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date like it’s our job at The Shortcut – because, well, it kind of is. We helped hundreds of thousands of gamers find the PS5, Xbox, and Nvidia GPUs, and we’ll do the same for Nintendo’s new console.
The Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date is likely Wednesday, April 2, 2025, according to our in-depth analysis, and we think the pre-order time will be 10am ET.
Why, specifically, April 2 at 10am ET? Nintendo will reveal more information about its new console in an online video one hour beforehand. We’ll finally get the Nintendo Switch 2 release date and specs – and we’re likely to learn about the Nintendo Switch 2 launch games besides Mario Kart 9.
As soon as the Nintendo Direct live stream on the morning of April 2 ends, you can expect retailers worldwide to launch pre-orders of the Switch 2 console. Right now, we expect the Nintendo Switch 2 price to be $399, which is $50 more than the Nintendo Switch OLED and $100 more than the original Nintendo Switch at launch.
American stores are already hyping Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders, but there’s little reason to believe they’ll send you an alert as soon as pre-orders go live. Every time we’ve signed up for their notifications, we get them hours later in the US.
That’s why The Shortcut is ready with an email alert and a post on X/Twitter – as soon as Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders become available. In fact, we’re often able to find links to retailer pages before the add-to-cart button becomes active. This will give you a leg up for scoring a Nintendo Switch 2 console – just like we helped people buy a PS5, PlayStation Portal, and so many other hard-to-find gaming items.
On April 2 at 10am ET, we expect to see five major retailers open up the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US.
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Walmart
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Amazon
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Best Buy
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GameStop
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Target
Additionally, popular wholesale clubs may have Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders beyond the April 2 time frame. This includes Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s. There could be other stores – Antonline and Newegg come to mind – but they often sell video game systems in bundles and don’t always have inventory at launch.
Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy always have the most inventory, but they’re also the most popular American retailers. They often get slammed with traffic, so it won’t hurt to try to check out at GameStop or Target, just in case you run into trouble.
Nintendo has gone on the record to say that it won’t have inventory problems – like the PS5 and Xbox in 2020 – when it launches the Nintendo Switch 2. There’s reason to believe this statement. The company pushed back the launch to 2025, and that likely ensured ample supply of the console for April 2’s rumored pre-order date.
That said, video game scalpers are notorious for making it difficult to buy consoles by purchasing all the inventory and reselling rare items at much higher rates. This is why the PS5 and Xbox Series X were so hard to find in stock and often $1,000 on eBay.
So, just in case, you’ll want to secure for Nintendo Switch 2 right at 10am ET on April 2, in case that’s the pre-order date and time.