After pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 went live, various interesting details about the console and its demographics have been revealed. As caught by VGC, a recent informal survey by Japanese X user yukino_san_14 has indicated that not many fans in the country want to pay the extra cost for a region-free model. Rather, the majority of the Switch fan base in Japan content with the region-locked model.
More than 60,000 customers who had entered the pre-order lottery on the My Nintendo Store have been surveyed. Of these, 69.7 percent said they had applied for the Mario Kart World bundle of the Japanese-only Switch 2. 27.5 percent said that they had applied for just the Japanese-only console itself rather than the bundle. 2.9 percent applied for the region-free version of the Switch 2.
Interestingly, 91.2 percent of the buyers going for the region-free version of the Switch 2 were able to successfully place their pre-orders. While these numbers might be interesting, the survey was still ultimately an informal one, with a relatively small group of customers.
The region-free Switch 2 being sold in Japan, which supports a host of different languages, is priced at ¥69,990, compared to the ¥49,980 price tag for the region-locked version. This adds ¥20,000 to the price tag for the region-free console. While Nintendo hasn’t made any statements regarding the matter yet, the decision to have the region-free version of the console priced was likely to prevent scalpers from illegally exporting the console after buying it at a lower price in Japan.
The Switch 2 is proving to be a highly-anticipated console in Japan. Earlier this week, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa released a statement on social media, revealing that more than 2 million customers had signed up for the lottery-based pre-order system in Japan. In his statement, Furukawa also apologised, noting that Nintendo may not meet such massive demand in time for the console’s June 5 launch.
“On April 2, we announced the details of the Nintendo Switch 2 and began accepting applications for a lottery sale on the My Nintendo Store,” wrote Furukawa. “As a result, we received applications from an astonishing 2.2 million people in Japan alone.
“However, this far exceeded our prior expectations and greatly surpasses the number of Nintendo Switch 2 units we can deliver from the My Nintendo Store on June 5. Consequently, it is with great regret that we anticipate a significant number of customers will not be selected in tomorrow’s lottery announcement on April 24.”
He did say, however, that Nintendo is planning on ramping up production moving forward to meet the demand down the road. “Furthermore, we are planning to produce and ship a substantial number of Nintendo Switch 2 units moving forward,” he wrote. “We sincerely apologize for the time it will take to fully meet your expectations and kindly ask for your understanding.”
