Reseller frenzy in 3, 2, 1: Although Nintendo has not set a solid release date for the Switch 2, we know it will be out this year. Regardless of when the handheld finally arrives, the looming threat of scalpers is an unwelcomed “new normal” that the company says it’s ready to combat.
On Tuesday, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told Japanese News outlet Nikkei that the company has learned lessons from the first Switch release and that scalpers would not pose a problem with the Switch 2 launch. Furukawa-san promised there would be enough units to go around.
“We will take all possible measures based on the experience we have accumulated to date (regarding scalpers),” Furukawa said. “We will prepare enough products to meet the demand.”
We can only hope.
Despite promising to double production of the original Switch shortly after release, Nintendo struggled to supply enough handhelds to satisfy the demand. Between scalpers and customers, there was never enough to go around, and the chip shortages during the Covid years didn’t make it any easier. Even toward the end of 2021, over four years post-launch, Nintendo still struggled to keep up with demand.
This time is different, though. Nintendo has been preparing to deal with high demand even before officially announcing the gaming device.
The company’s primary weapon against scalpers is to have a stockpile of units ready to ship on day one. It had initially planned to launch the Switch 2 in Q4 2024, but in February last year, it decided to push the launch into 2025 specifically to have a head start on production. It reiterated this plan last July. The idea is to have so many available units that it can satisfy consumer demand despite the scalpers.
“As a countermeasure for resale, we believe that it is most important to produce a sufficient number to meet customer demand. This idea has not changed since last year,” Furukawa had said.
However, this philosophy only works if Nintendo has enough stock to satisfy consumer and scalper demand. Since Nintendo is not the only retailer selling units, this task is easier said than done.
As we have seen in several past launch periods, outlets like Best Buy, Target, and others do little to keep their online sales in check. Even recently, we have seen online inventories sell out to scalper bots instantly. Resellers have tools that give them a considerable advantage over the average consumer.
What would help is for Nintendo to ensure that brick-and-mortar stores have an ample supply. There were no physical sales during the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series launches. Outlets excused themselves from putting units on store shelves for fear of spreading Covid, even though they still had Black Friday sales that packed the house anyway. So, consumers were forced into online queues to try to beat the bots.
Of course, that plan requires retailer cooperation, so it’s still outside of Nintendo’s control. What are the odds that the Switch 2 will have enough units at launch to beat the scalpers? Let us know in the comments.
