More Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders were in stock this weekend at Walmart, and while the inventory has dried up in the United States since Saturday night, we have reason to believe more consoles are inbound this week.
Monday, April 28, 2025, at 9 am ET kicks off Walmart+ Week, which is Walmart’s deals marathon for its Amazon Prime-like service. It has discounts on everyday items, but we may also see Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders restock again simply because Walmart may save them to promote its deals event. It’s done this before.
Walmart has become the best place to pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2, a fact that The Shortcut exclusively reported ahead of time. Why? Walmart has the largest inventory of any retailer in the United States, especially now that Amazon won’t be selling the console. Best Buy, Target, and GameStop sold out more quickly.
In fact, Walmart has been the only US retailer to have a massive Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order restock in the last 48 hours. Other stores in the United States have been focused on selling their ample inventory of the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories.
No retailer has locked Switch 2 pre-orders behind a paywall (probably by Nintendo’s strict orders), so you won’t need Walmart+, GameStop Pro, or Best Buy Total to buy this console. Sam’s Club will be the only exception, but so far, the wholesale club store hasn’t opened up its pre-orders, and, to be fair, every item they sell is part of their membership. Like Costco, it may have to wait until the June 5 release date.
You won’t need Walmart+ to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order this week, but a restock could coincide with Walmart+ Week regardless. Walmart (and Amazon with its Prime Day deals) has done this before. Sales of hard-to-get consoles (like the PS5 and Xbox before it) have been used to promote their deals marathons.
The Shortcut has even deeper insight into the sales tactics of stores in the US when it comes to video game console restocks. Amazon and Walmart have previously utilized console restocks at the end of their deals events to encourage customers to quickly check out with a gaming system, and everything in their cart that they may have been on the fence about during the week. It’s a genius move, really.
So, while our Substack Chat and Matt Swider on X will be tracking Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders starting on April 28 at 9 am ET for Walmart+ Week, the sales don’t end until May 4 at 11:59 am ET. Expect the Nintendo console to show up at that time.
Matt Swider is the Editor-in-Chief of The Shortcut, the #1 consumer tech publication on Substack. Matt, a trusted technology expert with over 25 years of journalism experience and the former US Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, can be found on social media through X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
