Gamers are powered up for Nintendo’s highly-anticipated Switch 2 launch

Tokyo, Japan – With shops planning midnight launch parties after a run on pre-orders, Nintendo releases the Switch 2 on Thursday, hoping to score record early sales for a gaming console.

But the Japanese company has its work cut out to match the overall success of the Switch, which became a must-have during the pandemic with hit games such as Animal Crossing.

Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since it came out in 2017 – making it the third best-selling console of all time.

Serkan Toto from Tokyo consultancy Kantan Games said he “would not be surprised to see Switch 2 breaking sales records in the next weeks and months.”

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In Japan, Nintendo’s online store had 2.2 million pre-order applications for the Switch 2 – an “insane number the industry has never seen before,” Toto told AFP.

“We are looking at some sort of mega launch, and it will be interesting to see for how long this initial momentum will continue,” he added.

Challenges for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether it can convince enough people to pay the high price for its new device.

The Switch 2 costs $449.99 in the US, more than Switch’s launch price of $299.99. Both are hybrid consoles which can connect to a TV or be played on the go.

New Switch 2 games such as Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World – which allows players to go exploring off-grid – are also more expensive than existing Switch titles.

Retailers in the US, Europe, and other major markets are also gearing up for a rush of excited fans, with some stores opening at midnight to welcome them.

“It seems that retailers in the US were especially confident in their ability to ship pre-orders and now need to deal with some serious backlash from customers,” Toto said.

He expects “it will be hard to get a Switch 2 not only at launch but for weeks and months after, possibly through the entire year,” as was the case for months with the Switch.

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In the US, Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the Switch 2 by two weeks as it assessed the impact of President Donald Trump’s aggressive duties on trading partners around the world.

Furukawa said in May that “hardware for North America is mainly produced in Vietnam,” where Trump is threatening a hefty so-called “reciprocal” levy of 46%.

But tariff uncertainty could in fact push consumers to buy a Switch 2 sooner, because they are worried that the price could go up, according to Yang.

Nintendo forecasts it will shift 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release.

The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high” compared to its predecessor, so it “will not be easy” to keep initial momentum going, the company’s president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May.

The Switch 2 has eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse.

New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw for young audiences used to watching game streamers.

“People were a bit shocked by the price of Mario Kart World, the first $80 game that we’ve ever seen,” said Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit & Krysta Podcast.

But while the company is “going to have to do some work” to convince more casual gamers that it’s worth upgrading, Nintendo fans are “super excited,” she told AFP.

And the stakes are high for Nintendo.

While the Super Mario maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90% of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.