Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order update: Walmart has it in stock today

According to The Shortcut's exclusive data, pre-orders of the Nintendo Switch 2 console are going through at Walmart at the link below. "Just keep trying," say US customers.

Update: See the latest Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order news in the US from our restock experts, as American retailers confirm their launch day plans.

Thousands of people are still buying the Switch 2 as of April 26, more than 48 hours after pre-orders went on sale (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

• 📧 Is it out of stock? The Shortcut subscribers get priority help in our Substack Chat for the next restock. Also, follow Matt Swider on X and turn on notifications

• 🎮 Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders continued at one store in the US this weekend

• 🔄 Refresh Walmart’s Switch 2 with Mario Kart World until it’s in stock

• 🤫 Secret tip: change your store (you’re shipping it anyway) to find inventory

• 🏆 Thousands of people have been able to pre-order Switch 2 from my link

• 😅 Hundreds of thousands of you are still trying to buy it, according to our data

• 🌟 Walmart+ Week starts on Monday. We may see new pre-orders at that time

Finding a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order on Saturday is possible if you’re in the US and know where to find it in stock. According to The Shortcut’s exclusive retail data for April 26, the one store with pre-orders is Walmart.

Refreshing the Walmart Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle has shown that the pre-order is still available at random times in the United States.

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:

Yes, more than 48 hours after Switch 2 reservations first launched, we have fresh evidence to support this fact, both from our exclusive checkout data (transactions show sales of the Switch 2 are going through) and from subscriber replies (it shows bots aren’t the ones buying up the Nintendo consoles).

Switch 2 pre-orders are most likely to be available at odd hours when there’s less competition online at Walmart (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

Here’s fresh proof for Saturday to support our prior story about Switch 2 pre-orders being in stock at Walmart this weekend. The mantra is “Just keep trying,” according to my followers in the US who have successfully bought the console today.

The timing that works the best seems to be odd hours, when fewer customers are trying to pre-order the Switch 2 from Walmart. You won’t have as much competition, and most of the people who bought the console are now looking for the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, like the Switch 2 Pro controller and USB camera.

How to get a Switch 2 pre-order today

Purchasing a Switch 2 pre-order from Walmart takes two things: persistence and luck. Oh, and these four steps.

Step 1: Go to this Walmart link right now

I’m finding Walmart’s Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle to be in stock more than the standalone console. That’s good news because it’s the better version, saving you $30 on the otherwise expensive game.

Step 2: Select Shipping, not Pick Up

You have to tap the refresh button until “Sold Out” gives way to an add-to-cart button. Due to the fact that this console ships to your home, make sure you select “Shipping” if your browser gets stuck on Pick Up with each refresh. Unlike Best Buy, you won’t be able to pick up your order at a store, so that option will always fail.

Step 3: Change your story (you’re shipping it anyway)

Switch 2 inventory has been allocated by region. So while Walmart stores in New Jersey closest to NYC have been out of stock for hours, nearby in Pennsylvania, I was able to find fresh stock of the console.

Step 4: Check out and have your 2FA ready

The final step to securing that Switch 2 pre-order is to log in and confirm your ID with two-factor authentication if that’s set up. Be fast. At this point, Walmart may send you an error message saying the console is out of stock. This will happen 99.9% of the time for some of you. But there’s new proof that hundreds of people are ending up with a console today.

Need more help? I’m primarily focusing on answering questions in our Substack Chat.

If you keep seeing the Switch as “Sold Out” on Walmart, I will continue to offer pre-order restock alerts through Matt Swider on X. I’ve helped thousands of people find a Switch 2, and before that, I helped 400,000 people get PS5 restock (and Xbox) when they were hard to find a few years ago.

Walmart tested our patience with its queue, but a lot of people got the Switch 2 in the end. Look out for more mini restocks soon (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

Walmart+ Week may offer Switch 2 pre-orders

This isn’t 100% confirmed, but Walmart loves to use rare items, just like the Switch 2, to attract online shoppers to its tentpole sales events. Well, one is coming up. The retailer will kick off Walmart+ Week starting at 9am ET, and it’s prime for a good opener.

• Walmart: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (still seeing success)

• Target: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle

• GameStop: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (confirmed sold out)

• Best Buy: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle

• Sam’s Club: Unknown time Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle

This doesn’t mean that Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders will be locked behind a Walmart+ subscription. So far, the Nintendo console has been in stock without requiring a paid membership in the United States, and that goes for all retailers, even GameStop. This may have been a requirement of stores from Nintendo, and it may have gotten one GameStop in trouble in New York.

In other words, the best date and time to check for a Switch 2 pre-order is Monday, April 28 at 9am ET, when Walmart+ members’ exclusive shopping window starts. Walmart+ isn’t going to be required to buy the Switch 2, but Walmart is likely keen on you checking out its many deals and logging onto its website at that exact time.

Amazon doesn’t have Switch 2 pre-orders, so Walmart, as the largest retailer in the US, is your best bet at this point (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

Walmart pre-order cancellations are key

There’s proof that people are cancelling their Switch 2 pre-orders at Walmart after either having second thoughts or after securing a console reservation at Best Buy, which will offer the console for in-store pickup at midnight on June 5, the release date.

The Shortcut and Matt Swider on X still get hundreds of repleis showing it’s possible to pre-order from Walmart (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

That’s why we’re likely seeing new Walmart pre-orders trickle into the system. Inventory is coming back online, and new customers are buying the console. Even if it’s only 100 pre-orders per hour, it’s still possible to get the Nintendo Switch 2 this weekend.

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.