Nintendo fans in the U.S. will have to wait a bit longer to lock in their pre-orders for the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2. Originally scheduled to begin on April 9, 2025, in the U.S., the pre-order process has been delayed as Nintendo assesses the impact of newly enforced tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Here’s what Nintendo recently stated about this pre-order delay.
Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,” “Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.
These tariffs—introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration—affect imports from certain regions, including Vietnam, China, Cambodia, and Japan, where much of Nintendo’s hardware is manufactured.
The decision to postpone pre-orders reflects the company’s efforts to navigate these trade policy changes, which could influence pricing or availability in the U.S. market. Despite the delay, Nintendo has confirmed that the official launch date for the Switch 2 remains unchanged. The console is still set to release on June 5, 2025, and promises advanced features and a next-level gaming experience.
However, these tariffs may also increase the price of the Nintendo Switch 2. Already priced at $450 and $500 with a bundled copy of Mario Kart World, a price hike could push the console out of the comfortable buying price range for most gamers. Not to mention several Nintendo 2 Switch games that are already priced at $80, and could also see a substantial price hike as well.
As for the Nintendo Switch 2, from everything that I’ve seen and heard, it is a technological jump and the biggest so far in terms of Nintendo consoles. However, outside of that, it also comes with some concerns, especially the inclusion that this console supports what are called Game Keys, which are blank cartridges that you can download digital games onto. These physical games that you purchase in stores, but before you can play them, you must download the game onto these Game Keys. Basically, this will do away with physical games as we know them and could make it possible to resell a digital game. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
The Nintendo Switch 2 releases on June 5, 2025, but as of now, we have no idea how much it will be priced thanks to these tariffs or even when pre-orders in the U.S. will start.
