Nintendo wasn't ready for how in-demand the Switch 2 would be in Japan, as boss warns there isn't enough stock from its official store to fulfill the 2.2 million lottery sale applications
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The Switch 2 isn't out yet, but it's already taking Japan by storm, so Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa is warning fans who applied for its lottery sale that there isn't going to be enough stock to go around from its official store.
To pre-order the console from the My Nintendo Store in Japan, fans had to apply for a chance to be selected in a lottery, leaving it up to chance whether they would actually be successful in buying one. In a tweet posted on the Japanese Nintendo Twitter account yesterday (machine-translated by Google and DeepL), Furukawa confirms that a whopping 2.2 million applications were received in Japan – a number that far exceeds both the company's expectations and the amount of stock it can deliver on release day.
As a result, Nintendo expects that "a significant number" of fans won't be selected from the lottery as the first wave of winners is confirmed tomorrow.
There's already a second lottery sale planned, and those who aren't chosen as a winner the first time will have their applications automatically carried over. However, Furukawa says that even counting the quantity of stock for this second sale, it still won't be possible to fulfill all of the applications.
Nintendo is already "working on further strengthening our production system" in order to help meet the demand, and it's worth noting that other Japanese retailers will also be opening up their pre-orders soon, so fans don't have to rely on getting the console specifically from the My Nintendo Store.
While the company will continue to make and ship "a considerable number" of Switch 2 consoles, it apologizes for the wait that this may bring.
Last July, Furukawa said that Nintendo planned to beat scalpers by simply making sure there was enough stock of its new hardware to meet demand in the first place, although he more recently noted that rapidly increasing production in would "not be easy."
Responding to the latest news on Twitter, Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japan games industry consultancy Kantan Games, points out the Switch 1's high sales in Japan (estimated to be over 35 million), while saying: "Nintendo originally promised enough supply for launch – which of course immediately sounded like a fairy tale for anybody with a basic understanding of the game market."
Now, it's looking like this will probably be the case. It could be bad news for anyone in Japan hoping to get stuck into upcoming Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World on the console's June 5 release date, but hopefully, it'll be able to ramp up its production swiftly enough to ensure everyone who wants one can grab one before too long.
Nintendo Switch 2 news is constantly evolving now in the run-up to the console's release. Be sure to check out our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide to see how you can secure one for yourself.
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