Nintendo has said it is seeing overwhelming demand for its upcoming Switch 2 game console in Japan, in a sign the gadget could be on track for the biggest hardware launch in the video game industry’s history.

"We have received 2.2 million applications for the lottery sale at our official online store for customers in Japan alone, which is far larger than what we had anticipated,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa posted on X on Wednesday. "As such, we apologize that a significant number of the applicants wouldn’t be selected.”

Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy, said, "The number is way beyond expectations.

"It not only indicates Switch 2 will be sold out at launch, but also the device is likely going to be hard to get for months after."

The $450 Switch 2 will be key to the company’s future, succeeding the blockbuster success of the eight-year-old Switch. In Japan, the console will sell for ¥49,980 ($350) in an edition exclusively in the Japanese language — almost a quarter cheaper, which helped buoy demand at home. Preorders in the U.S., which had been delayed to better gauge the impact of tariffs, begin on Thursday.

Nintendo’s Tokyo-traded shares rose as much as 5.5% on Thursday, its biggest intraday gain in two weeks.

"As Japan accounts for a third of the global Switch installation base, it implies 6.6 million pre-orders globally,” said Pelham Smithers of Pelham Smithers Associates.

The Kyoto-based company introduced a lottery system to deal with high demand in Japan that prioritizes customers who played frequently and made online subscription purchases on the original Switch.

Analysts forecast that Nintendo will be able to produce between 6 million and 8 million consoles by the time it hits shelves on June 5. Sony Group’s PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are tied for the best launch to date, with each selling 4.5 million units in their first two months on the market.

Furukawa said Nintendo is taking various measures to boost production.

"Nintendo is ramping up production, but initial supply will lag far behind demand," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal said in a client note.

The Switch 2's predecessor sold 2.7 million units globally in its launch month in 2017 and has gone on to sell more than 150 million units.

It is "shaping up to be another record-breaking hardware cycle. Perhaps an unprecedented super-cycle," Goyal wrote.

Nintendo made roughly a fifth of its sales in the year ended March 2024 in Japan, where the company enjoys a family-friendly reputation and began as a maker of playing cards.

The Switch 2’s debut has been marred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy. About a third of the units are assembled in Vietnam, which was hit with a 46% tariff before the U.S. gave it a 90-day reprieve at the lower rate of 10%.

Last week, the company said it was raising prices for Switch 2 accessories in the U.S. and that "other adjustments to the price of any Nintendo product are also possible in the future.”