Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide: date, time and everything you need to know
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders start on April 24 at 12 am ET, according to US retailers. Here's when and where to buy it
Update: See our in-depth Nintendo Switch 2 review, which is live after a week of thoroughly testing the new console. Check out our full Switch 2 news stories, too.
📆 The Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date is Thursday, April 24, 2025
⏰ First pre-orders start at 12 am ET, confirmed by Walmart and Target
🇺🇸 Pre-orders were delayed from April 9 to April 24 due to US tariffs
📧 The Shortcut subscribers will get the priority pre-order links for US stores
Update: This is the Switch 2 Walmart bundle that will give you the most bang for your buck. It’s literally $1 cheaper than Target and Best Buy’s price, and Walmart is expected to have the most pre-orders of the Nintendo console among US retailers. Best Buy has also finally revealed it’s pre-order time.
The highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date was finally confirmed for the United States, and it’s happening this week: April 24, according to Nintendo. This is the official pre-order date, and we also know what time a few US retailers will go live.
The first wave of Switch 2 pre-orders starts on April 24 at 12 am ET, according to both Walmart and Target. Walmart sent The Shortcut confirmation of this news last week. Both stores will sell reservations for the Nintendo console online only, not in stores.
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:
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date and time
Walmart and Target will be the first to offer pre-orders at midnight Eastern Time in the US. That means it’ll technically be April 23 in other US time zones, as all of the Switch 2 pre-orders at Walmart and Target will happen at the exact same time nationwide.
Walmart: 12 am ET / 11pm CT / 10pm MT / 9 pm PT
Walmart will have the largest console and Switch 2 bundle inventory
Target: 12 am ET / 11pm CT / 10pm MT / 9 pm PT
GameStop: 11 am ET / 10am CT / 9am MT / 8 am PT
Best Buy: 12 am ET / 11pm CT / 10pm MT / 9 pm PT
Sam’s Club: Unknown time
Amazon: Unlikely to sell the console in the US at this point
GameStop will open up pre-orders the next morning at 11 am ET. It’ll also have a limited number of Switch 2 consoles that customers can reserve at local GameStop store locations when they normally open their doors.
Best Buy updated us on its pre-order time: it’s also launching Switch 2 orders on April 24 at midnight ET, just like Walmart and Target. Now the outlier is Sam’s Club, which does have plans to sell the Switch 2, but its pre-order date and time are unknown.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order price
The official Nintendo Switch 2 price is $449, but that won’t be the most popular version sold on April 24 at midnight. Instead, gamers in the know really want the Switch 2 that comes bundled with Mario Kart World for $499. As mentioned in our Switch 2 hands-on review, it’s the best launch game coming out, but it’s $30 cheaper. Normally, the game will cost $80.
Note: Walmart is offering this Switch 2 pre-order bundle for $499 instead of $499.99, so at midnight on April 24, it’ll offer the best price, most pre-orders (it’s the largest US retailer by far), and promises to deliver consoles by 9 am local time on June 5.
All retailers will have Switch 2 accessories available to purchase on April 24, but they have gone up in price since Nintendo originally revealed them earlier this month. Most have been a $5 increase, according to our Switch 2 price infographic, with Nintendo citing “economic conditions” for the price hike.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders may sell out quickly
This week’s US pre-order date on April 24 for Switch 2 is actually a significant delay from when Nintendo was supposed to start selling the new console in North America, with the video game company blaming US tariffs for the two-week setback. But, to our advantage, we know how things will work, as the UK sold out in a few minutes.
That’s why, even with the Switch 2 release date of June 5, you’re going to want to pre-order the console on April 24 at midnight. There are going to be millions of consumers in the United States trying to buy this console, and it may be unavailable for weeks if you wait until the summer to purchase it.
That’s why we offer priority alerts and pre-order links to The Shortcut subscribers in our Substack Chat. Our experience with each PS5 restock has given Matt Swider the authority on when and where to pre-order technology, and Switch 2 could become among the rarest if US demand exceeds Nintendo’s supply.
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.
Can you post about the switch launch on Threads? I deleted my Twitter account.
i got one from walmart thank you!!! literally tried on target for an hour and it just crashed the whole time. took the gamble to check walmart and got right in to checkout! there was a line for bundle but the console alone was readily available 55 mins late!