Summary
After a brief delay in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs, theNintendo Switch 2finally went up for preorder in the United States, beginning as early as 12:00 a.m. EST across an array of retailers.
Things went as well as you might’ve expected, with retailers quickly selling out or,in the case of Best Buy, not being on time at all. In the fallout,scalpers have immediately taken to aftermarket sites to try and cash in on the hype.

That said,GameStopelected to hold its online preorders in the morning, with in-store preorders taking place as soon as the store opened. For those who struck out overnight, the chain represented a final hope.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, with the site quickly crashing right at the start of the day, and preorders quickly running out shortly after. Now, the retailer is aiming to make things right.
Be Gone Bots And Scalpers
In a post to Twitter immediately following the sell-out of available allotments, the company vowed to open up inventory once more by squashing any orders made by bots, as well as duplicate orders AKA those buying more than one.
At the moment, it’s unclear when those consoles will be made available for preorder online once more. Still, it represents another potential chance for U.S.-based customers to snag a console.
Beyond that, it’s an acknowledgment that bots and scalpers are around and won’t be tolerated. Hopefully, the other retailers will take note and also take action.