The 'Zelda' Switch 2 Console Release Is A Confirmed Disaster For Some

Published Oct 29, 2026, 12:48 PM EDT Patricia is the former editor-in-chief of Kotaku, where she spent a decade writing and editing. Prior to that, she served as the Culture Editor at Polygon, and as a reporter at The Verge. Hernandez specializes in Pokémon TCG, Nintendo, and offbeat internet culture stories. Major retailers like Walmart and Target are informing Zelda fans of issues at the last minute Image: Nintendo Sign in to your Polygon.com account The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's special edition Nintendo Switch 2 console officially releases today, Oct. 29. But the launch is not going as smoothly as planned. Fans hoping to purchase the golden console without a pre-order were already expecting to be disappointed, based on how quickly it kept selling out online ahead of its debut. Yet to everyone's surprise, even people who secured a Zelda Switch 2 pre-order are encountering problems at major retailers. Walmart informed some of its customers that it would not be able to fulfill their Switch 2 orders merely a day before release, according to Kotaku. Adding insult to injury, customers could still purchase a console via Walmart's third-party sellers for hundreds of dollars above the manufacturer's suggested retail price. Worse still, representatives at Walmart told customers they couldn't rectify the problem quickly because the retailer had oversold its Switch 2 stock. Walmart and Target's Zelda stock issues On the console's actual release day, some Walmart stores received a notice that a supply chain delay would prevent them from selling the hardware to anyone, regardless of pre-order status. The internal communications stated that customers would still receive their orders eventually, whenever the affected store gets its shipment. Walmart is also saying that, despite previous issues, the delay won't result in canceled Switch 2 orders. Until then, everyone has to sit tight. Making matters messier, some Walmart stores alerted customers of a delay early on Thursday only to receive their shipment later on. Confusingly, despite stock on-hand, some stores are reportedly being prevented from scanning the product and selling it anyway. Those who have already been turned away might want to double-check with their stores — and even then, fans may need to be prepared to walk away empty-handed. Walmart isn't the only retailer facing issues with order fulfillment. Some customers who pre-ordered from Target online claim that their Switch 2s haven't shipped yet or have been delayed until sometime in the middle of November, after the Ocarina of Time remake comes out. Other unlucky Target shoppers say that their Zelda Switch 2 orders were outright canceled. Best Buy, with its Nov. 5 midnight release — a week after other retailers — appears least affected by supply issues. Some Best Buy customers are still miffed, though. That's because some orders for the game won't ship until a day after the official release and will likely arrive days later. For the most part, however, fans can still place game pre-orders at major retailers — it won't be nearly as scarce as the hardware.