Target just leaked the new Switch 2 pre-order date and time

The new Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date might have been leaked by Target, but there is something suspect about this time and date. Nintendo was initially scheduled to start taking pre-orders in the U.S. on April 9 before it officially announced a delay to give it time to assess the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs that were announced just hours after. We are still awaiting official word from Nintendo for the new date, but Target might have just given us an idea of when this could happen…maybe.

Target (might have) just leaked the new Switch 2 pre-order date

Rumors on the expected new date have been floating around now, the My Nintendo Store is still listing a May 8 invitation date for its first batch of pre-orders, but nothing has been set in stone just yet. Could it possibly get announced during this week’s Mario Kart World Direct? That seems unlikely as Nintendo has probably had that presentation in the can for a while now, but anything could happen at this point – it is clearly being forced to stay on its toes here.

Digging around on the wishlist backend of Target, Wario64 did spot a date, it’s just unclear whether or not this is some kind of placeholder.

While at this point it would seem April 30, 2025 is as viable a kick-off date as any, there are a few red flags here. Firstly April 30th is the last day of the month – that seems like an easy placeholder date to randomly choose considering most (hope) expect pre-orders to start in April – but perhaps even more telling is the time: April 30 at midnight PT/3 a.m. ET. If this is the new Switch 2 pre-order date, that would effectively put the start time on May 1.

Here’s what Wario64 spotted:

Again, this could totally be true, but it could also just be nothing and just a placeholder date as Target awaits the official nod from Nintendo like the rest of the retailers in the U.S.

It is a Wednesday/Thursday – Nintendo did seem to want to start taking pre-orders in the middle of the week initially – and it does happen more or less exactly one week after this week’s Direct showcase too – Nintendo originally announced pre-orders would go live one week after the Switch 2 Direct at the top of the month.

I’m not getting my hopes up for this one, but at this point who knows? It can only really be a matter of time now considering Nintendo has made a point to highlight the fact that the delay on pre-orders would not force it to change the June 5 release date.