What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live?

Update 4/8: Noooooo, Nintendo has now officially announced that pre-orders for Switch 2 in Canada will also be delayed to a later date. Nintendo has made an official statement to the press confirming that pre-orders in Canada will also be delayed to fall in-line with the U.S.

What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live? Well, at this point we don’t even know what day they are going live here in the U.S., but north of the border Walmart has other major retailers have announced the official date and time Switch 2 pre-orders will begin, perhaps giving us a better idea of how things might shake out in the U.S. once Nintendo is ready to let us score one.

What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live?

Best Buy Canada – Switch 2 pre-orders April 9 at 12 p.m. ET
Walmart Canada – Switch 2 pre-orders April 9 at 12 a.m. ET

Last week, as you likely already know by now, Nintendo officially announced that it would be halting the originally announced April 9 pre-order date in the U.S. to give it time to assess the worldwide tariffs recently put in place by the Trump administration. As of right now, Switch 2 pre-orders will not begin on April 9 here in the U.S., but folks north of the border in Canada will indeed get a chance to lock-in a Switch 2 early in the morning come Wednesday.

Nintendo has specifically said that Switch 2 will still be releasing in the U.S. and Canada on June 5, 2025.

We know, or at least hope, a new U.S. Switch 2 pre-order date will be coming sooner than later, which leaves us (mostly) back at the same question many of us were asking last week before Nintendo announced the delay: What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live?

Well, we don’t know just yet. Recently, PlayStation launches tend to like that 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET slot, this includes both Best Buy and Walmart listings (sometimes Walmart likes to let its Walmart+ members get first dibs on these big-time launches), but if the official Canada pre-order start time is in any indication, we will all be getting up a whole lot earlier than that when Switch 2 finally does go up for pre-order.

Switch 2 pre-orders are still on track for April 9 in Canada, but can U.S. gamers score one too?

After taking to its official X feed last week and announcing that Switch 2 pre-orders will go live via Walmart Canada at 9 a.m. PT/12 noon ET, it changed gears and decided to go with a midnight kick-off:

On second thought… we’re switching it up by launching earlier!

Pre-orders now begin April 9 at 12:01am EST and will be available online only. Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, 2025.

Walmart Canada also specifically mentioned that, “due to demand,” there will a limit of “1 console per household” during the pre-order phase. We assume this means it will only ship one Switch 2 pre-order to the same address during the presale phase.

Now, obviously this is Walmart Canada, and very much not Walmart here in the U.S., but it could be your first indication of how things might go when they finally go up for sale down here. We haven’t seen a midnight console pre-order/launch in the U.S. in quite some time, but this is the Nintendo Switch 2 after all.

Original posts from Canadian outlets last week had basically all major online retailers starting pre-orders at noon ET on April 9, but Walmart decided to get ahead of the competition and kick things off 12 hours earlier at midnight – this might very well prompt GameStop, Best Buy, and other major Canadian retailers to follow suit and might give us some insight as to what time Switch 2 pre-orders will go live in the U.S. – when the time finally comes.

Are midnight console launches back this generation? Best Buy already announced it would be opening brick and mortar locations in the U.S for pre-order pickups on June 5 and perhaps the pre-order action will fall inline as well. I would personally not rather get up in the middle of the night (or stay up) just to pre-order and pick my console up, but there is admittedly something nostalgic and exciting about the whole thing.

It’s hard to say how much of the U.S details on Switch 2 pre-orders and the subsequent launch will stick at this point, but here’s what we know so far:

Best Buy Switch 2 pre-orders:

Update: Nintendo has now officially delayed the pre-order date for Switch 2…developing. Details right here.

On June 5 most stores in the U.S. will open at 12 a.m. ET, 11 p.m. CT, 10 p.m. MT and 9 p.m. PT for pre-order pickup. Take advantage of our store locator tool to find the closest location to you. My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total  members can get a $20 certificate for every $150 spent on Nintendo games and gear, up to $100 in certificates. Any purchase also comes with one month of Nintendo Switch Online. Stay up to date on the latest and sign up for notifications around all things Nintendo Switch 2.

Best Buy is opening up “most stores in the U.S.” at midnight on June 5, 2025 so gamers can pickup pre-orders early int he am – this might mean folks pre-ordering via Best Buy will be the first in the country to get their consoles.

Update: Best Buy now has a tool on its Switch 2 page to see if the store near you will be open at midnight on launch day.

Nintendo Switch 2 $450
Nintendo Switch 2 + MarioKart World Bundle $500
Mario Kart World $80
Donkey Kong Bananza $70
Nintendo Switch 2 Camera $49.99
Left and Right Joy-Con 2 controllers $89.99
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller $79.99
Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip $34.99
2-pack of Joy-Con 2 Wheels$19.99
Joy-Con 2 Strap $12.99

Walmart Switch 2 pre-orders:

Switch console and game pre-order listings are now up at Walmart as well – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition has a $79.99 list price.

Pre-orders made before  8 am local time on June 4, or while supplies last, will be eligible for  free delivery of their console by 9 am local time* on June 5!