Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders delayed in the US over Trump's tariffs

Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders will not go ahead on April 9, 2025 in the US as originally planned due to the evolving situation of US President Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs on imported goods. The console's launch date of June 5 has not changed. Read more

Ubisoft Leamington has now closed

Ubisoft Leamington has closed its doors, following January's news that the UK-based studio was caught in the publisher's latest round of layoffs. Read more

Inzoi reaches 1m sales in first week of early access | News-in-brief

Nvidia confirms Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracing

Nvidia has confirmed the Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracing, with the firm producing a custom processor for the console. Read more

How Trump's tariffs could affect the Switch 2 � and the rest of the games industry

Update, April 4, 2025: As a result of the tariffs, Nintendo has delayed US pre-orders for the Switch 2 from its original April 9 date until a later point. The launch date of June 5 will not change. Original story, April 4, 2025: Analysts and other industry figures have weighed in on the potential impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs, including the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. Trump's general 10% tariff rate for certain countries comes into force on April 5, 2025, while nations affected by variously higher 'reciprocal' percentages will be hit from April 9. The full impact is still coming into focus as countries retaliate. In this context, it's an extremely significant week for video games, with the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 revealed shortly before the tariffs were formally unveiled on April 2. As a result, it has ignited speculation around whether the $450 US price tag for the Switch 2 was partially determined by the incoming threat of tariffs or not. "It's difficult to say for certain," Mat Piscatella of Circana tells GamesIndustry.biz when asked whether he believed Nintendo factored tariffs into the price. "However at least the potential for tariffs was widely known before the announcement of pricing around Switch 2 products. "How much potential tariffs played as part of the determination of that pricing? I don't know. I'd have to believe that it was at least a consideration." "Nintendo most likely ran simulations to get to a price that would make them tariff-proof as much as possible" Read more

QA firm TestFly acquires Brazilian testing company Red Cerberus

TestFly, a self-described "leading provider of strategic and innovative quality assurance testing solutions" for the gaming industry has acquired Brazilian testing firm Red Cerberus from tinyBuild. Read more

"Australia's largest studio" PlaySide announces restructure and job cuts

PlaySide Studios is laying off an unspecified number of developers. Read more

Roblox adds three new features to parental control settings

Roblox continues to update its parental controls, adding three new features to improve child safety on the platform. Read more

Nintendo implements pre-order restrictions for Switch 2

Update, April 4, 2025: Nintendo has postponed pre-orders in the US "in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions." In a statement shared with GameSpot, Nintendo stated it will "update timing at a later date" and clarified the June 5 launch date is "unchanged". Original Story, April 3, 2025: Nintendo has implemented pre-order restrictions on My Nintendo Store for the Switch 2 in order to "prioritise the most dedicated players". Pre-orders will initially be offered by invite-only emails based on a certain set of criteria. For UK and European consumers, pre-orders begin on April 8 while in the US and Canada the date is April 9. The Switch 2 launches on June 5, 2025. Nintendo UK said consumers are required to have had a Nintendo Switch Online membership "for at least two years continuously" by March 31, 2025 and an active membership when the pre-order is placed. Nintendo US noted invites will be prioritised to those with "a minimum of 12 months paid membership." For family memberships, this applies to the person who purchased the membership. Other members are not eligible. Pre-order selection will also be based on "prioritising those with more playtime" on Nintendo Switch games, as well as players who have opted to share usage information with Nintendo. Nintendo US specified this as being a minimum of 50 hours as of April 2, 2025. To receive the invite, consumers will also have to have opted to receive promotional emails and messages from Nintendo. "Over time, the selection criteria thresholds may be lowered and more people could be invited to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2 console," the company clarified. "Throughout, we will remain focused on prioritising the most dedicated Nintendo Switch players (while stocks last)." Earlier this year, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa reiterated the company's stance on keeping up with stock demands. "As of now, we are taking the risk and proceeding with production to meet as large a demand as possible," said Furukawa. "As was true with the Switch, we believe it will not be easy to rapidly increase production capacity, so based on our prior experience, we are making preparations to respond as quickly as possible." Furukawa previously noted that Nintendo would combat scalpers by providing enough Switch 2 consoles for retailers to meet consumer demand. Read more

Some physical Nintendo Switch 2 games will be download-only 'Game-Key Cards'

Nintendo has revealed that physical copies of certain games on the new Switch 2 console will be 'Game-Key Cards', requiring a download before they're playable. Read more