Switch 2 pre-orders are getting cancelled days before launch

The Switch 2 is out on June 5, which means that anyone who scored a pre-order will be keeping a close eye on its status. What people expect are notices that their Switch 2 has been processed or shipped, and that they’ll get Nintendo’s new console on time. Instead, some people are getting hit with the news that they won’t be getting a Switch 2 at all.

Walmart pre-orders in particular seem to be getting hit the hardest, judging from dozens of posts on social media sites like X and Reddit. While some customers aren’t surprised by this turn of events — they placed pre-orders days after most had been sold out at other major retailers — others say that they placed their orders the day they went live. The situation is pervasive enough that it’s prompting paranoia among fans, who are now regularly refreshing the status of their orders and are praying they won’t be next.

As news spreads, it’s become evident that some cancellations are not happening due to a lack of stock. Some people have discovered that their orders were flagged for fraud by their credit cards companies, which prevented retailers like Walmart from charging the order. In those cases, getting in contact with your bank might be the quickest way to ensure that your order gets processed properly.

Walmart seems to be attempting to do right by customers, though, with some reports of fans being offered gift cards as an apology for canceled orders. While Walmart appears to be the most prevalent case of canceled preorders, there are still reports on social media hailing from customers at other retailers, like Target and Best Buy. In the case of Best Buy, some customers are encouraging each other to go into physical stores for help, as the retailer’s phone line has proven unhelpful. GameStop has taken the opportunity to gloat about the status of its pre-orders, only to be met with responses from people who also had their order canceled.

It might be worth checking your pre-order to make sure things are moving smoothly, as most major retailers have reports of canceled orders. In some cases, people are indeed being promised consoles, but they won’t arrive on launch day necessarily.

If you had your order canceled, don’t despair. There are also reports from retail workers at major stores that many of them are getting an abnormally large stock of consoles reserved for people who come into the store without pre-orders. Just make sure to check if your local store is doing midnight releases or not — you don’t want to make the journey just to find out you’ve been beaten to the punch by people who were willing to camp out in line.