For Nintendo fans in Japan, April 24, 2025 is a big day — with Nintendo set to reveal just who has been lucky enough to get the chance to snap up a Switch 2 via official My Nintendo Store pre-orders. But not only was Nintendo forced to shut down the My Nintendo Store website for maintenance due to too much traffic, it also issued a warning about phishing emails mimicking official Switch 2 pre-order lottery results.
Back on April 2, Nintendo started accepting applications for a Switch 2 pre-order lottery in Japan. Winners of the lottery would be able to purchase a Switch 2 from My Nintendo Store, to be delivered at launch on June 5.
According to Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa’s message yesterday, around 2.2 million people in Japan entered the first Switch 2 presale lottery. This demand far exceeded the company’s expectations, meaning that many entrants will have their hopes of obtaining the console on launch day dashed.
With results of the first Switch 2 presale lottery coming out today, it seems that many people rushed to access Japan’s My Nintendo Store, forcing Nintendo to take the site offline for maintenance. Scammers also took advantage of this Switch 2 fever by sending out fake lottery results.
Japanese speaking users on X also warned others, sharing screenshots of fraudulent emails and identifying several variations of the scam. At first glance, the subject line announcing “You have won the Switch 2 lottery” would likely have had many Nintendo fans jumping for joy.
The example emails either demand that the user click on a LINE messenger app link or pay the money today via a suspicious-looking url, and urge the user to act now to secure their coveted new console. It seems the phishing attempts range from more obvious emoji-riddled fakes to more sophisticated attempts with smaller errors like misspellings of Nintendo in email addresses, and non-Japanese URLs.
The official warning from the Japanese Nintendo Support account states: “Although we plan to send out the lottery result emails today (April 24), we have not sent them yet. Please be aware that any such emails that you have received up until now were not sent by Nintendo.”
In the U.S., an update on release-day delivery was published on Nintendo’s website warning those who’d registered their interest in buying a Switch 2 from My Nintendo Store that it could not guarantee delivery by the June 5 release date.
As a result, invitation emails may arrive after the Switch 2 comes out. However, Nintendo said it will confirm your shipping date upon purchase. Nintendo is now saying you may have a better chance of getting a Switch 2 at launch by pre-ordering at a third-party retailer — a concerning suggestion given Switch 2 has already sold out following pre-orders going live overnight.
The struggle fans had to pre-order Switch 2 on April 24 coupled with this warning from Nintendo suggests the next-gen console will be very hard to buy at least in and around launch.
According to a FAQ posted to Nintendo’s website, the first batch of invitations will go out starting May 8, 2025 for the My Nintendo Store in the U.S. Additional batches of invitation emails will then be sent “periodically” until purchasing on My Nintendo Store is opened to everyone.
Initial invitation emails will be delivered on a first-come, first-serve basis to “eligible registrants who meet the priority criteria.” Invitees will have 72 hours from the time when the email is sent to complete their purchase.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order invitation priority requirements:
- you must have been the one who purchased any Nintendo Switch Online membership
- you must have had any paid Nintendo Switch Online membership for a minimum of 12 months, and
- you must have opted in to share gameplay data and have at least 50 hours total gameplay hours.
Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
