Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 Pre-Orders Canceled by Mistake: Walmart Sends $519 Gift Cards to Buyers, With One Catch
Watching your pre-order for the Nintendo Switch 2 The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition vanish right around launch day is every collector's worst nightmare. After accidentally canceling hundreds of confirmed orders across the United States, Walmart is now rolling out a massive make-good offer: $519 in free eGift cards or a 48-hour priority reorder window, though there is a key catch attached.
Abrupt Cancellations Right Ahead of Ocarina of Time's Launch
Priced at $519.99 MSRP and released on October 29, 2026, the limited-edition black-and-gold Triforce Nintendo Switch 2 hardware quickly ran into a major inventory bottleneck at Walmart.
Having oversold its initial pre-order allocation, the retail giant abruptly canceled a wave of customer orders that had been locked in for weeks. For fans counting on the special-edition console ahead of the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launching on November 6, the last-minute cancellation email hit hard.
The sting was even sharper considering resellers are already flipping the Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 for $750 to $800 on secondary marketplaces.
$519 Split Across Two eGift Cards ($500 + $19) or a 48-Hour Cart Window
Following widespread backlash across community threads on the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit, Walmart acknowledged that the pre-order cancellations had been triggered in error by its automated inventory system.
To smooth over the blunder, the retailer launched a two-track resolution depending on regional stock availability:
- The 48-Hour "Exclusive Reservation" Window: Select affected buyers had a placeholder item labeled "Exclusive Reservation" (priced at $519.99) dropped directly into their online Walmart shopping cart, giving them a strict 48-hour window to complete checkout.
- The $519 eGift Card Payout: For customers whose orders could not be reinstated due to depleted stock, Walmart began emailing $519 in digital gift cards, matching the full retail price of the console.
One technical quirk initially caused confusion among recipients: because Walmart's digital gift card system caps individual cards at $500, affected buyers first received an email for a $19 eGift card before the main $500 eGift card arrived in their inbox several hours later.
What Is the Catch Behind Walmart's $519 Bonus?
Because Walmart does not charge customers for pre-orders until the item actually prepares to ship, none of the canceled buyers were out any money of their own. Receiving $519 in Walmart credit effectively amounts to more than $500 in free store funds for the inconvenience.
The catch, as clarified by Walmart customer support representatives, is that the resolution is designed as an either/or choice. Buyers issued the $519 gift card payout are not guaranteed a replacement unit of the sold-out collector's console, a hardware edition so scarce that even Nintendo's official repair service warns it may replace broken parts with standard black components.
Still, amid the chaotic rollout and conflicting support tickets, a handful of lucky buyers on Reddit reported receiving both the 48-hour "Exclusive Reservation" cart link and the $519 eGift card bundle, scoring their Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 completely free on Walmart's dime.
My Perspective
I can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster of opening your inbox after a canceled Zelda collector's pre-order and seeing a lone $19 gift card pop up first before the $500 code finally lands!
Even if it hurts to miss out on that gorgeous gold Triforce dock and the green Joy-Con 2 controllers just days before riding Epona across Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time, walking away with $519 in free credit without ever having your card charged is an incredible consolation prize. It is more than enough to grab a standard Switch 2 and a copy of the remake for free while leaving scalpers stuck with their overpriced listings.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
