The Nintendo Switch 2 is flying off shelves – but you won’t find it on Amazon US, and that’s no accident.
The Nintendo Switch 2 dropped in June 2025 – and 3.5 million units sold in just four days. But anyone who instinctively clicked their way to Amazon to grab the console was met with… nothing. Just a wasteland of third-party sellers and suspiciously cheap imports.
The Third-Party Wild West
Why can you buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X with one click, but Nintendo’s shiny new toy is nowhere to be found on the world’s biggest online marketplace? According to a Bloomberg report, Nintendo’s issue wasn’t with Amazon directly – it was with the digital flea market forming inside its walls. Third-party sellers had started undercutting Nintendo’s official prices, reportedly by importing games in bulk from Southeast Asia and flipping them in the U.S. for less.
For a company like Nintendo – famously protective of its pricing and brand – this was more than annoying. Amazon allegedly offered to slap “authentic product” labels on Nintendo listings to separate the real stuff from the bargain bin. But Nintendo wasn’t having it. They pulled the plug. So when the Switch 2 launched, it did so everywhere except Amazon: Walmart, Target, Best Buy, GameStop, Nintendo’s own store… but not the e-commerce giant millions turn to by default.
Amazon vs. Nintendo: PR Ping-Pong
Of course, neither side will admit there’s beef. Nintendo insists, "There is no such fact," Amazon calls the report "inaccurate." Still, the facts are sitting right there. The Switch 2 is MIA on Amazon U.S., while perfectly visible on Amazon’s international sites in the UK, Canada, and elsewhere. Some Nintendo games have begun creeping back onto the site, but the console itself? Nowhere in sight.
So Who’s Winning This Game?
Short-term – both, arguably. Nintendo’s console is flying off shelves even without Amazon, which is a flex in itself. And Amazon avoids officially admitting it has a black hole where one of the biggest gaming products of the year should be. But for regular customers, it’s a headache. Unless you're in the loop, it looks like Nintendo simply forgot to show up. What’s really going on is more of a silent power struggle – control over pricing, distribution, and ultimately, who gets to set the rules in an increasingly chaotic digital marketplace.
For now, if you're in the US and want a Switch 2, you’ll need to do things the old-fashioned way: buy it from literally anywhere else.