If you’re like a lot of folks who considered buying a Nintendo Switch to help pass the time while quarantined, you’ve probably noticed that Nintendo’s incredibly popular console has pretty much been sold out across the country for the past couple weeks.
Currently, if you take a look at some of the major online stores like Amazon, Walmart, and GameStop, there’s almost no available stock for the Nintendo Switch. If you do find a new Switch for sale, chances are it’s listed by a third-party seller that has jacked up its price to well above the Switch’s regular $469 retail price. And while things are less dire for the Switch Lite, supply for the cheaper, handheld-only Switch has begun to dry up too.
However, based on a tweet posted by Nintendo’s official account stating that people who reserved a Switch could expect their consoles to arrive next week, there may be some relief to the Switch’s depleted supply on the way. Furthermore, a representative for Nintendo U.S. told GamesIndustry.biz that “more systems are on the way. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
To make things even more difficult for hopeful Switch buyers, Animal Crossing: New Horizons (which came out on March 20) has been smashing sales records, with more than 2.6 million copies sold in less than two weeks, and that’s only in Japan. Combined with the current quarantine already straining supplies on everything from toilet paper to pantry staples, finding somewhere to buy video game consoles including the Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 has become a lot more challenging.
Gizmodo has reached out to Nintendo for more info regarding Switch retail supply, and we will update the story if we hear back.