Record Launch Demand for Nintendo Switch 2 Signals $200 B Game Market Surge

Nintendo’s Switch 2 landed Thursday to blockbuster demand, spawning overnight lines from Chicago to Tokyo and empty shelves by mid-afternoon. Priced around $450, the hybrid handheld-console arrives eight years after the original Switch and immediately reprises its predecessor’s lightning-in-a-bottle debut, buoyed by fresh hits like “Mario Kart World” and a loyal base of 152 million Switch owners itching to upgrade. Analysts already call it the hottest launch since the PS5 and Xbox Series releases of pandemic-era 2020.

Wedbush Securities expects persistent shortages into winter, while London research firm Ampere Analysis forecasts 13.6 million units sold this calendar year—helping propel global console revenue to roughly $16.5 billion. Nintendo itself targets 15 million Switch 2s by next March and has ramped factories to match, contending that neither a potential U.S. recession nor higher tariffs will derail momentum. Company president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors the goal is to “match the original Switch’s blistering first-year pace.”

The stakes are high: before the 2017 Switch turnaround, Nintendo’s future in dedicated hardware looked shaky against Sony and Microsoft. The Switch’s portable-home hybrid design rescued the brand; Switch 2’s sharper graphics and backward compatibility aim to cement that revival. Supply chains, however, remain fragile—aluminum tariffs and component bottlenecks could squeeze margins and availability. For now, though, gamers are voting with their wallets, and retailers are bracing for another weekend of sold-out signs and preorder waitlists.