Nintendo announced that it has signed an agreement with three companies managing major free market websites in Japan to prevent illegal listings featuring the Nintendo Switch 2 and its related items. The companies in question are Mercari, Rakuten—which runs Rakuten Rakuma, and LINE Yahoo, which runs Yahoo! Auction and Yahoo! FreMa.
The Japanese game company has been working hard to ensure that the initial batches of Switch 2 are available to people who actually want to enjoy the new console. Nintendo is holding lottery sales to give more chances to legitimate buyers, as opposed to resellers who would just put up scalped Switch 2 listings on sites like Mercari. In addition, the company will mostly release exclusive versions of the Switch 2 that are region- and language-locked in Japan to discourage foreign tourists from getting the console there.
The sheer popularity of the Switch console series in Japan has led to an overwhelming demand for the Switch 2 in the country. In late April 2025, Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa published a lengthy tweet explaining the Switch 2 lottery sales in Japan. Those not chosen in the first batch on April 24, 2025, would be immediately placed in subsequent batches. However, not even the second lottery batch would be enough to satisfy all the demands in the country.
Nintendo Switch 2 will be available in Japan on June 5, 2025. The new console will also be available in North America and Europe on the same day. In addition, Nintendo will release the console in four Southeast Asian countries—Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines—later between July and September 2025.
Published: May 27, 2025 10:00 am