Nintendo Switch 2 launch on Amazon fell apart over pricing of cheap imports

Amazon lost its right to carry the Switch 2 - the most successful gaming console launch in history - as it has been undercutting Nintendo prices with cheap imports.

Apparently, Nintendo was nonplussed that games like Donkey Kong Bananza whose Switch 2 edition now costs $69.99 on Amazon - the same price that Nintendo America sells it for - could be found there much cheaper at one point.

Nintendo warned Amazon that it will pull its products if it doesn't deal with scalpers who buy its games and consoles in Asia and resell them on Amazon US at lower prices than the official tag at Nintendo of America.

Amazon offered some token gesture like labeling original Nintendo products sold on its platform, but that wasn't nearly enough of a compensation for the gaming giant. In the end, Nintendo paused the selling of its products on Amazon, and only now have some Switch 2 games and accessories made their way back, this time at their original prices.

As a result of the scalping brouhaha, however, the Nintendo Switch 2 release date came and went without an Amazon launch, and it is still not officially sold there. Amazon missed out on the largest console debut in history, with 3.5 million Switch 2 units sold in a matter of days.

The Nintendo Switch 2 price is lower in some Asian countries than in the US, and the same goes for Nintendo's games. The Switch 2, for example, costs the equivalent of just $340 in Japan, though this version is only supported in the local market.

That is why scalpers have been abusing the Amazon online platform - the Wild West of cheap imports from Asia - in order to undercut Nintendo prices in the US. After meeting little recourse from Amazon, Nintendo reportedly decided to teach it a lesson by pulling its Switch 2 launch in the hope that the marketplace will fall in line and demonstrate that it can sell its items at their original pricing.