Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are going live tonight at just about all major retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Nintendo has announced that pre-orders will begin on April 24 – they will actually start late tonight on April 23 if you’re on the west coast (more details below on this) – and at the same price it initially announced in early April. Despite the delays and market uncertainty in the wake of global tariffs, Nintendo has held firm on the June 5 releases date as well as the price both of the standard Switch 2 console and the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, and pre-orders will go live in well under 24 hours now.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders set to go live tonight in the U.S.
After maintaining the early June release date, it was only a matter of time before Nintendo finally kicked-off pre-orders on its next-generation console and that time is fast approaching. You are going to want to be ready starting as early as 9 p.m. ET just in case – it wouldn’t be completely outside of the realm of possibility to see retailers jump in early, but we could also see virtual queues begin to form well ahead of the actual listed start times you will find below.
As we mentioned above, and despite the fact that Nintendo has been forced to adjust pricing on the official Switch 2 accessories including the Switch 2 Pro Controller, Joy-Con, Camera, and more (all of it is now $5 more than was initially announced and you can get the details in our previous breakdown), it has not raised the price on the console or the limited-release Mario Kart World bundle. They maintain the respective $400 and $450 price tags here in the U.S.
Best way to pre-order Switch 2
We already detailed the requirements for pre-ordering Switch 2 directly from Nintendo – it’s not completely crazy but only a select many gamers will even be eligible to take that route and your invitations(as of right now) to pre-order will start landing on May 8. That leaves Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and GameStop as the best place to score a Switch 2 console tonight for pre-order.
As of right now Amazon doesn’t seem to have any official plans announced for Switch 2 pre-orders, but it wouldn’t be the first time we have seen something like this from the major retailer only to have listings popping up alongside the others. If history is any indication, we might even see Amazon throw up live Switch 2 pre-order listings throughout the day and ignore the midnight bonanza entirely. But again, it is still unclear – it could even wait until launch day.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order times
Shortly after Nintendo finally announced the new April 24 pre-order date, the next question everyone had (after they realized it didn’t raise the price or change the release date) was what time Switch 2 pre-orders will actually go live. We scoured the internets and hounded our contacts, and we know now exactly when it will all go down. As of right now, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have all officially announced pre-orders will begin on April 24 at 12 a.m. ET, which is actually April 23 at 9 p.m. PT on the west coast.
Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 at Best Buy (12 a.m ET)
Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 at Target (12 a.m ET)
Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 at Walmart (12 a.m ET)
Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 at GameStop (11 a.m ET)
Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon (TBD)
Nintendo Switch 2 game pre-orders:
- Donkey Kong Bananza $69
- Mario Kart World $79
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition $79
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildSwitch 2 Edition $69
- Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition $80
- Kirby and The Forgotten Land Switch 2 Edition $79
- Street Fighter 6 $60
- Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $70
- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $70
- No Sleep For Kaname Date $50
How to pre-order Switch 2
Well there hadn’t technically been any mention of any virtual queues per se, it wouldn’t be hard to believe this being the case later tonight. Major releases over the last year, including limited availability consoles, saw select online retail locations forming first-come-first-served virtual queues for customers already on the listing pages before the announced start time. While it’s we can’t say whether or not this will be the case tonight, it might be a good idea to get comfy and start refreshing listing pages an hour or more before the listed start times above.
Best Buy is maintaining its “updated” reservation process warning on the upcoming Switch 2 listing pages. What this means exactly is unclear, but it is clear that you’ll want to have your accounts ready for retailer, or retailers, you’re looking to make use of tonight for a pre-order. Make sure your retailer account is ready to go, your location and delivery data is updated, and your financial details are also in place where available.
Best Buy specifically states on the Switch 2 listing that “once in your cart, the item is “held” for 10 minutes. After time expires, we can’t guarantee the item will still be available. So be sure to complete your purchase quickly!” But, in our experience, this statement is not to be trusted when it comes to major, high-demand pre-order launches like tonight’s. If you’re not completely ready to go, get lucky adding one to your cart, and then move through the checkout process quickly, there is definitely a chance you might just get bumped right out or just have the whole site freeze up on you.
Mario Kart World Switch 2 bundle pre-order
As we have detailed previously, Nintendo has specifically confirmed that the Mario Kart World bundle – the only package that includes a game – is a limited-time production through Fall 2025. There’s no way to know how long or if it will ever be available again after release and the included game is going to cost you $80 thereafter if you don’t get the bundle tonight. This is clearly going to be the most popular option when pre-orders go live tonight. Say what you will about Mario Kart World and its price, but the game looks fantastic and is a total system seller – this is going to be the harder of the two packages to secure tonight. It’s not widely known (or perhaps believed) that Nintendo will stop making this bundle, but it is definitely out there and most folks are going to want the bundle over the console on its own. If you’re one of them, good luck and make sure you are rested and ready to get a rolling Boost Start well before the midnight kick-off time.
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