For Nintendo enthusiasts in Japan, April 24, 2025, marks a significant date as Nintendo is set to announce the winners of the Switch 2 pre-order lottery through the My Nintendo Store. However, due to an overwhelming influx of traffic, the My Nintendo Store website had to be taken offline for maintenance. Amid this excitement, Nintendo issued a crucial warning about phishing emails that falsely claim to be official notifications of the Switch 2 pre-order lottery results.
The pre-order lottery for the Switch 2 in Japan opened on April 2, with winners being granted the opportunity to purchase the console, slated for delivery on its launch date of June 5. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa revealed that an astonishing 2.2 million people entered the initial lottery, surpassing Nintendo’s expectations and leaving many hopeful fans disappointed.
As the lottery results were set to be released today, the rush to access the My Nintendo Store led to the site going offline for maintenance. Unfortunately, this surge in interest also attracted scammers who began circulating fake lottery result emails. On social media platforms like X, Japanese users were quick to warn others, sharing screenshots of fraudulent emails and highlighting various scam formats. These deceptive emails, often announcing "You have won the Switch 2 lottery," typically prompt recipients to click on suspicious links or make immediate payments via questionable URLs. The sophistication of these phishing attempts varies, with some emails containing obvious red flags like emojis and others featuring subtler mistakes such as misspellings and non-Japanese URLs.
In response, the official warning from the Japanese Nintendo Support account clarified that no lottery result emails had been sent out as of yet, stating, “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.”
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In the United States, Nintendo updated its website with information regarding release-day delivery, cautioning those who registered interest in purchasing a Switch 2 from My Nintendo Store that delivery by the June 5 release date could not be guaranteed. This means that some invitation emails may be sent out after the console's launch. Nintendo confirmed that upon purchase, customers would receive their shipping date. In light of this, Nintendo suggested that fans might have a better chance of securing a Switch 2 at launch by pre-ordering from third-party retailers, despite the console already being sold out following overnight pre-orders.
The challenges faced by fans on April 24, combined with Nintendo's warnings, indicate that obtaining the next-generation console will be difficult around its launch.
According to a FAQ posted on Nintendo’s website, the first round of invitations for the My Nintendo Store in the U.S. will begin on May 8, 2025, with subsequent batches of emails being sent out "periodically" until the purchasing option is available to all. The initial invitations will be sent on a first-come, first-served basis to "eligible registrants who meet the priority criteria." Those invited will have 72 hours from the time the email is sent to finalize 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.
- You must have opted in to share gameplay data and have at least 50 hours total gameplay hours.
