Only 23% of People Got to Pre-Order Nintendo Switch 2 In Japan Lottery, New Survey Claims

Only 23% of Japanese players were able to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2 through the official Nintendo Store lottery, according to a recent survey. That means a staggering 77% of people who wanted the new console were shut out from pre-orders. The thirst for the Nintendo Switch 2 is very real.

Japan Nintendo Switch 2 Lottery Ends in Woe

A survey by Yahoo Japan claims that around 23.9% of Japanese players entering the Nintendo lottery could pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2. The website estimates that Nintendo had roughly 550,000 Switch 2 consoles available for pre-order through its official store in Japan. Given how much demand there is for the portable device, that’s pretty insane!

However, it should be pointed out that these results were collected through a survey on social media. Yahoo asked over 13,689 participants whether they had won or lost in the Nintendo Switch 2 lottery. They also collected data by searching for replies from individuals who confirmed they had been selected.

“In the survey on X we conducted this time, 13,689 people responded. The percentages derived from this large number of responses were ‘winner: 23.9%’ and ‘loser: 76.1%’. Roughly speaking, the winners were roughly 1/4.” Nintendo also confirmed that over 2.2 million people signed up for the lottery, although they did not reveal the results. That’s how Yahoo arrived at their estimate—based on the data from winners and losers they gathered.

will this be the Largest Console Launch of All Time?

For all the talk about Nintendo overpricing the Nintendo Switch 2, it appears that none of it mattered. Even with Mario Kart World priced at $80, the new device sold out within seconds. Pre-orders in North America were an absolute nightmare, as millions of players fought tooth and nail to get their hands on the portable console.

Now look, I know the Yahoo survey isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Even if the number is 40%, that’s still a lot of Japanese players who can’t get in on pre-orders. The survey also tells us that Japan didn’t have nearly enough consoles available at launch to meet the clear demand. Interestingly, Nintendo had actually hinted at this before the lottery went live. In a post on social media, the publisher told users that Nintendo Switch 2 demand “far exceeded” their expectations.

All of this points to the Nintendo Switch 2 having one of the biggest launches of all time. If $80 games and a $200 price increase from the previous console weren’t enough to deter gamers, I don’t know what will. But clearly, there is massive demand for the incoming console—and it seems even Nintendo didn’t anticipate it being this big. Hopefully, the 77% of Japanese players who missed out will get a chance to grab the console soon.