What just happened? Thieves have made off with almost 3,000 Switch 2 consoles after stealing them from a truck that was heading to a GameStop store in Texas. It's estimated that the value of the stolen goods was somewhere around $1.4 million, and the incident will doubtlessly affect stock levels at the store until replacements arrive.
Authorities say that the 2,810 Nintendo Switch 2 consoles were stolen from the back of a semi-truck as it made its way from Nintendo of America's Redmond headquarters to a GameStop store in Grapevine, Texas.
On June 8, the truck stopped at Love's Truck Stop in the Colorado town of Bennett. It's here that the driver noticed that someone had broken into the trailer and removed several pallets, reports Denver7.
Investigators say they don't know if the robbery occurred in Bennett or another town where the truck stopped during its journey from Washington State.
The driver told deputies he did not know what was in the trailer, only that he was transporting games or toys. It was later confirmed to be the Switch 2 consoles.
Multiple pallets of Nintendo's latest handheld were removed from the truck, so it sounds like a planned and organized operation rather than an opportunistic theft.
The sheriff's office said that the perpetrator(s) of the crime could face multiple felony charges if caught. The Switch 2 is priced at $449.99 and the Mario Kart World bundle costs $499.99. With the haul priced at over $1.4 million, it sounds as if the majority of the stolen items were the Mario Kart bundles.
Earlier this month, it was reported that more than 3.5 million Switch 2 units were sold in the first four days following its launch, making it the fastest selling console in the Japanese company's long history.
Comparing launch figures to the original Switch, which has become the third best-selling console of all time, the predecessor managed to sell over 2.7 million units in under a month – though it did have supply issues to deal with at the time of its 2017 launch. Availability of the Switch 2 has definitely been better, though gamers in Grapevine might struggle to find one for a while.
Thieves steal almost 3,000 Switch 2 consoles worth $1.4 million from truck headed to Texas GameStop
