Joy and despair as game devs fight for a Switch 2 of their own, with Smash Bros' Masahiro Sakurai lucking into one while Balatro's LocalThunk still hunting

Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are live, but a lot of developers and games industry figures have had trouble getting them. Websites are crashing, Switch 2s are disappearing from carts, and only a lucky few are getting their hands on them.

LocalThunk, creator of the viral indie poker roguelite Balatro posts to Bluesky, "Best Buy don’t you dare do me like this," alongside a screenshot of a blank page when searching for the Switch 2. He follows up with, "Welp no dice, looks like it's just my OG switch for me!"

John Epler, formerly the creative director on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, now the narrative director on skateboarding game Skate, posts: "Okay I think I got a Switch 2 preorder from best buy but I guess we'll see, the site was a complete clusterfuck."

He adds, "Did it used to be this annoying to try and preorder something? I don't think it did."

Josh Sawyer, studio design director at Obsidian, the place that brought you Fallout: New Vegas and Avowed, writes: "I buy consoles about 5-7 years after they come out but I’m happy for all of you or sorry that happened." Lucky him – seems to be staying out of it.

Even The Game Awards organizer Geoff Keighley is out of luck. He tweets, "Man, Target is brutal for Switch 2 pre orders. System was in my cart, then it wasn't, then it was, wouldn't let me pay, etc. Anyone having any luck elsewhere?"

One lucky pre-order winner is none other than Masahiro Sakurai, the icon behind Super Smash Bros. and Kirby. He tweets a picture showing that he's managed to get a Switch 2, but it seems wild Nintendo wouldn't just send him one itself considering he's making Kirby Air Riders specifically for the platform.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy voice actor Yuichi Nakamura responds to Sakurai's tweet with a picture of a 2 painted onto the back of a Switch.

If you're unsure of whether or not to get the new console, check out our list of all the upcoming Switch 2 games and see if you really want any.