As time moved forward, Children's Day on June 1st soon arrived.
Inside a room in Magic City, Zack and Hannah were sitting in front of the computer.
They were constantly refreshing the Nebula Games official website.
"I wonder how much stock there is in the first batch," Zack said while refreshing the Nebula Games website.
"Who knows? But no matter how much there is, we should try to grab it first," Hannah replied.
Nebula Games didn't announce how many Switch units they had.
But for them, they had been looking forward to it for a long time, so they naturally prepared to buy it as soon as possible.
Especially "Super Mario: Odyssey" and "Animal Crossing," these two games could only be played on Switch.
If they hadn't experienced them before, it wouldn't be so bad.
But the key was that they had both felt the fun of these two games at the Gameplay Convention.
These two games didn't seem as amazing and shocking as "Red Dead Redemption: Redemption."
But they were very fun to play.
If they couldn't get one in this first sale, it would be too frustrating.
And to be honest, the price of the Switch wasn't expensive, it could even be called a great deal.
It was just the hardware inside that made people feel a little hopeless.
At the Gameplay Convention, Zack didn't expect the Switch's hardware to be so weak.
After all, both "Super Mario: Odyssey" and "Animal Crossing" performed pretty well.
"Hurry up, one minute left!"
"I'm refreshing like crazy, but the methods to stop scalpers are getting stronger and stronger. It's not like before when you couldn't get a phone or other device no matter what."
Zack and Hannah looked at the time, constantly refreshing the webpage, while also chatting.
The instant the time hit zero, they immediately opened the payment page and prepared to pay.
"No way! It's sold out? That shouldn't be! Nebula Games uses the latest tools to check on their website!" Hannah, who often shopped online, was stunned by the screen in front of her.
Sold out in one second? What the heck!
"Haha! I got one!" Zack next to her chuckled.
"You got one? Let me ask if Ben and the others got one." Hannah couldn't help but feel frustrated. Even though they were together, the key was that only one person could play the game!
Although "Super Mario: Odyssey" had a two-player mode to play together, "Animal Crossing" didn't. She knew about that game's two-player mode, the other person was just a follower doing chores.
Soon, Ben, Joey, and Wells all joined the chat group.
Then, after chatting, they found out that besides Ben, who chose to line up offline to buy one, Joey and Wells didn't get one either.
"What's going on? Is the stock too small?"
"Yeah, it was gone in one second."
Everyone felt very annoyed.
...
Many players had the same experience.
Before, the promotion of the Switch, although not huge, wasn't small either.
At least some players who liked games, especially those who liked Nebula Games, had been paying attention to the Switch handheld for a while.
In various forums and online groups, countless players began to get angry.
"What the heck? Is Nebula Games playing supply tricks, or did the scalpers strike? I just refreshed the webpage and it was gone!"
"Out of stock +1! I already got to the payment page, but the payment speed wasn't as fast as others, I'm crying!"
"How much stock did Nebula Games actually prepare? Don't even mention the console, the controllers and game cards are already sold out."
"Are there any brothers from big cities? Do the offline game stores have any stock?"
"No way, I'm so upset, I lined up for a day and it was gone right when it was my turn. According to the people at the game store, the next supply will be next week, and each person can only pre-order one."
Faced with the players' outrage, Lucas responded and shared the official message.
'Answering the questions everyone is concerned about, first of all, it's not planned scarcity, but the stock is indeed sold out.'
'The initial stock of Switch was 500,000 consoles, 200,000 pairs of joy-cons, and 50,000 adapters.'
'The physical game cards for "Animal Crossing" and "Super Mario: Odyssey" were each 300,000 copies.'
'But they are all sold out now, but please rest assured, a new batch of consoles, accessories, and game cards are already in urgent production and will be online on major e-commerce platforms next week.'
Looking at Lucas's official message, countless players were stunned.
In the Nebula Games break room, a group of people were playing various games on the Switch.
"Super Mario: Odyssey," "Overcooked," and "It Takes Two."
"Boss Lucas, how much stock will there be in the next batch of Switches? The online players seem like they're about to riot!" Marcus, leaning on the sofa, was also surprised.
Like many game designers in the industry, he never expected the Switch to be so successful.
The first day's shipment of 500,000 units sold out directly.
It was terrifying!
"It actually exceeded my expectations. The next batch will be... well, only 150,000. But Andrew has already contacted the manufacturing companies, there will definitely be a shortage in June, but it will be much better in July," Lucas said with a smile.
Although the players were cursing online at night, it also proved that the Switch was selling very well.
Actually, at first Lucas thought that 500,000 units could be sold in two or three days.
After all, the Switch was so popular in its past life, mainly due to Nintendo's years of operation, and the launch games had historical roots.
Considering that in this world, although the Switch was unique, it didn't have the same attachment to its games, and handhelds weren't mainstream.
Lucas felt that 500,000 should be enough, but now it seemed that he underestimated it a bit.
Nebula Games' good reputation over the years, coupled with the temptation of the new games at the Gameplay Convention, directly led to the current situation.
"And it's not just in China, overseas players are also getting restless," Marcus smiled, took out his phone and showed it.
Various game media websites also reported it.
That was, regarding Nebula Games' new Switch console, many overseas players were also requesting on their official accounts for it to be launched in their markets as soon as possible.
Some rich people even said they were willing to pay five or six times the price to buy a Switch.
As for the purpose, it was naturally to experience Nebula Games' games on this new console.
And the unique "need to line up" aspect of the Switch also attracted many overseas players.
"There are also plans for overseas, but the initial supply will definitely focus on China," Lucas shook his head and said with a smile.
Lucas naturally had preparations for overseas as well.
It's just that the overseas version of the machine is different from the domestic version.
It needs to go through various reviews, including the games on the overseas version of Switch.
At the same time, there is also a more important reason, which is different from games on digital platforms.
Selling Switch overseas also involves negotiating with e-commerce and offline channels.
If they really want to fully expand overseas, it will take at least two months.
After all, most of the stock in the early stages will be provided to domestic players.
So during this time, let the overseas players smell the delicious food first.
Wait patiently for two months, and they can eat the hot and delicious food.
(End of this chapter)
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