Nintendo Denies Report It Pulled Products From Amazon Amid Spat Over Third-Party Sales

When Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders began earlier this year, console banal was disposable astatine a scope of US stores — but for the biggest online retailer retired there, Amazon.com.

The deficiency of Switch 2 consoles and games for merchantability successful the US via Amazon has been often remarked upon, but ne'er explained. And now, Nintendo itself has denied a Bloomberg study that discusses an alleged ongoing contented betwixt the Mario shaper and Jeff Bezos' megacorp implicit third-party resellers.

As IGN reported earlier this month, caller first-party Nintendo games person been astir wholly absent from Amazon.com implicit the past year, speech from a rogue Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom listing. This changed with Amazon offering pre-orders for the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Donkey Kong Bananza, which it began offering from June 17.

Still, the Switch 2 itself and assorted different upcoming Nintendo games, specified arsenic Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, stay unavailable to bargain oregon pre-order. And, arsenic noted by IGN today, a erstwhile listing for the Switch 2 has present been removed completely, alternatively inexplicably replaced with a 404 leafage that tin diagnostic a canine named Bowser.

Today, Bloomberg reported that the ongoing deficiency of Nintendo products connected Amazon was a deliberate determination by the Switch 2 shaper to combat third-party sellers buying consoles successful bulk from Southeast Asia and exporting them to the US to merchantability for cheaper prices than Nintendo itself.

Amid the menace of Nintendo pulling banal from sale, Amazon allegedly offered to statement games sold straight by Nintendo arsenic such, adding an other furniture of authenticity to lawsuit purchases, but to nary avail.

For its part, however, Nintendo has rapidly denied Bloomberg's reporting. "There is nary specified fact," a Nintendo spokesperson told Tom's Hardware. "We bash not disclose details of negotiations oregon contracts with retailers."

Amazon.com's erstwhile Switch 2 console leafage present returns a 404 error.

Amazon has besides denied Bloomberg's report, and said its detailing of the narration betwixt it and Nintendo was "inaccurate".

"[Amazon is] pleased to connection Nintendo products straight to our customers arsenic portion of our committedness to providing an exceptional buying acquisition with the widest enactment possible," an Amazon spokesperson said, without explaining wherefore Amazon's existent enactment of Nintendo products wasn't the widest retired there.

IGN has contacted Nintendo for comment, and to inquire if it tin stock wherefore much of its products are not offered for merchantability via Amazon.com.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social