Nintendo Switch 2 owners are opening consoles with punctured screens due to store receipts being stapled into the front of the console’s box.
Photos from a string of Switch 2 customers show how staples can easily penetrate through the console’s packaging, which consists of a thin cardboard box and a flimsy plastic envelope containing the main Switch 2 unit.
“GameStop stapled the receipt for me and my friends’ Switch 2s to the box. FML,” wrote one fan last night after getting home from excitedly picking up their console at a midnight store opening. “Genuinely insane now I’m gonna have to wait three months for the restock.”
Many images showing the problem include receipts from the same Staten Island branch of GameStop, which appears to have stapled receipts to much of their midnight launch Switch 2 stock. A video of the midnight launch posted by one attendee shows a long line of customers waiting at this particular GameStop branch — many of whom now appear to have been impacted in the same way.
“Midnight release went bad for me,” another affected customer, whose console screen has also been punctured by staples, wrote on reddit. “It’s seeming like everyone there had the same thing done to their boxes as well. Over 100 people were there tonight.”
“Hello! My Switch 2 has staple holes in the screen,” a third fan with a damaged console wrote on social media in an attempt to contact GameStop and Nintendo. “They stapled the receipt to the box at 1756 Forest Ave, Staten Island, NY 10303 and it damaged the screen.” GameStop and Nintendo are yet to give the fan a response.
@gamestop stapled the receipt for me and my friends Switch 2s to the box.
FML.#nintendo #switch2 #gamestop pic.twitter.com/AXtrgr7y0P
— Oadhan Lynch (@Oadhan) June 5, 2025
@gamestop Helo ! My switch 2 has staple holes in the screen. They stapled the receipt to the box at 1756 Forest Ave, Staten Island, NY 10303 and it damaged the screen. @NintendoAmerica pic.twitter.com/aqxPtRgNEs
— Rudeboy (@Rudeboy__NYC) June 5, 2025
“Me and my homie here (we never met before) were unfortunately at the same GameStop and this happened to me and another buddy!” yet another fan wrote on reddit. “Think the entire pre-order batch is completely f***ed.”
IGN has contacted GameStop and Nintendo for comment, and asked if advice can be passed on to retailers warning them of the potential issue when handling Switch 2 stock.
While GameStop has been criticised by those affected, fans have also expressed surprise that Nintendo itself had not done more to protect the key part of Switch 2 — the main unit, including its screen — within the console’s packaging.
“I’m not gonna hate on the employees too hard, but it seems like it was packaged without thought,” one fan with a damaged Switch 2 wrote. “Why have the screen facing up with barely any protection. I mean they are still idiots for stapling it.”
The Switch 2 is packaged with its main unit at the front of the console’s cardboard box, and its screen facing outwards. (From unwrapping my own Switch 2 console this morning, I can confirm there is surprisingly little to protect the screen from damage.)
“I knew this would happen,” another fan wrote on social media. “It was a weird decision by Nintendo to have the screen sit face-side-up at the very top of the box with only the thin cardboard to protect it. You’re going to hear about a few damaged screens in the coming days. They are at risk just being stacked in shipping.”
IGN has contacted many of the fans now left with a Switch 2 that has been damaged, through no fault of their own, on the day of the console’s launch. One GameStop customer told us they would be back at the store when it opened later today to return the console. It seems likely they won’t be alone.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
