Nintendo Debunked Amazon Exit Report Amid Sales Dispute

Earlier this year, when pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 began, the console was available at a number of US retailers—with one notable exception: Amazon.com.

The absence of Switch 2 consoles and games for sale on Amazon in the US has been widely observed, though never clearly explained. Now, Nintendo has refuted a Bloomberg report that pointed to an alleged disagreement between the gaming giant and Amazon over third-party resellers.

As IGN highlighted this month, new first-party Nintendo titles have been largely missing from Amazon.com over the past year, except for a brief listing of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Things shifted slightly when Amazon started taking pre-orders for the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Donkey Kong Bananza on June 17.

However, the Switch 2 console itself, along with other anticipated Nintendo releases like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, still cannot be purchased or pre-ordered. And as IGN recently noted, a prior product page for the Switch 2 has been taken down entirely, replaced by a puzzling 404 error page that sometimes features a dog named Bowser.

According to Bloomberg, the scarcity of Nintendo goods on Amazon was reportedly a deliberate strategy by the Switch 2 maker to counter bulk purchases from third-party sellers in Southeast Asia, who export the consoles to the US and undercut Nintendo’s pricing.

Faced with the possibility of Nintendo pulling inventory, Amazon is said to have offered to clearly identify games sold directly by Nintendo, giving buyers more confidence in authenticity—but the proposal was unsuccessful.

Nintendo, however, has firmly denied Bloomberg’s account. “This report is inaccurate,” a Nintendo representative told Tom’s Hardware. “We do not discuss specifics regarding our negotiations or contracts with retail partners.”

Amazon also disputed Bloomberg’s story, calling its portrayal of the Nintendo-Amazon relationship “inaccurate.”

“We are pleased to offer Nintendo products directly to our customers as part of our commitment to a great shopping experience with the widest possible selection,” an Amazon spokesperson stated, though without clarifying why the current Nintendo offering on Amazon falls short of that promise.

IGN has reached out to Nintendo for further comment and to inquire why more of its products are not available via Amazon.com.