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Photos of Midnight Lines for Nintendo Switch 2

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  • Nintendo launched the Switch 2 at midnight on June 5, drawing crowds that waited overnight for the release.
  • The company said it expects to sell 15 million units in the current fiscal year.
  • Nintendo didn’t increase the base cost of the console due to tariffs, but did boost the price of its accessories.

The global midnight launch event for tech gadgets has largely fizzled in recent years. After all, you can preorder the latest iPhone from the comfort of your home and have it delivered to your doorstep on launch day.

But with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 game console, more than eight years after the original drove massive sales, the midnight queues at brick-and-mortar stores came roaring back.

The Switch 2 launched globally on June 5, and people in many cities around the world lined up the day before for the chance to get their hands on the console as early as possible.

The launch is expected to boost the bottom line for big-box retailers like Target and Best Buy. Nintendo said it expects to sell 15 million units in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2026. Wall Street analysts believe that number could hit 20 million.

Though Nintendo didn’t increase the price of the base Switch 2 due to tariffs, it did boost the price of its accessories, including controllers.

Scroll on for a look at the lines around the world.

A line stretched down the block outside the Nintendo New York store.


A throng of people waits in front of the Nintendo New York store in advance of the release of the Nintendo Switch 2. The photo is taken from afar. The walls of the store are glass, allowing for sightlines within.



People wait in line at the Nintendo New York store on June 4, 2025, ahead of the midnight release of the Nintendo Switch 2.


DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP via Getty Images

Shoppers could be seen wearing red Mario hats.




There was more than one Mario hat in the crowd.


DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP via Getty Images

Customers spilled into the parking lot outside a Best Buy in Pembroke Pines, Florida.




Customers line up outside of a Best Buy store waiting for the midnight opening to purchase Nintendo’s Switch 2 console on June 05, 2025 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.


Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Buyers started filling their bags at midnight.




Darrell Zimmer purchases a Nintendo Switch 2 console at a midnight opening of a Best Buy store on June 05, 2025, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.


Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In San Francisco, waiting customers played games on their original Switches.




Kenneth Knotts, left to right, of Danville and Ian Suelter-Davison, left, of Santa Cruz sit in chairs they brought to wait in line as they wait to enter the Nintendo Store for a pre-launch event for the Nintendo Switch 2 on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in San Francisco.


Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Buyers in Paris sprawled out on the floor as they waited.




Customers line up at a Fnac Darty store to purchase the Nintendo Switch 2 game console during a launch event as Nintendo starts selling the new consoles globally, in Paris, France June 4, 2025.


Benoit Tessier/REUTERS

Crowds in Paris waited into the night.




Customers line up at a Fnac Darty store to purchase the Nintendo Switch 2 game console during a launch event as Nintendo starts selling the new consoles globally, in Paris, France, on June 4, 2025.


Benoit Tessier/REUTERS

Customers in Tokyo filled local electronics retailers.




Customers line up to purchase Nintendo Switch 2 at an electronics retailer in Tokyo on June 5, 2025.


KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

The packaging for the Switch 2 is similar to the original’s — with Nintendo’s red branding.




Customers purchase Nintendo Switch 2 at an electronics retailer in Tokyo on June 5, 2025.


KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

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