Nintendo appears to have made a miscalculation about the popularity of its new Ring Fit Adventure. The company has not made enough product to keep it on store shelves in Japan.
Shortages have been reported all over the country. Stores have had to repeatedly tell customers they don’t know when more are coming.
All of this has led to Nintendo having to issue an official apology on its website:
The company said in part. It went on to say it continues to ship more copies every week. Those shipments are apparently still not hitting demand.
The Nintendo Switch software “Ring Fit Adventure” released on October 18, 2019, continues to be in short supply throughout the domestic market. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to customers and dealers who are waiting. We continue to ship every week, and we will increase the number of shipments toward the end of the year so that as many people as possible can deliver.
Nintendo publicly apologizes for the lack of Ring Fit Adventure copies in Japan and promises more stock towards the end of the year https://t.co/zHkHNxnatH
— Nibel (@Nibellion) November 29, 2019
Nintendo added some stores might allow people to pre-order Ring Fit Adventure but that would be a case, by case basis. While Nintendo isn’t thrilled about the shortages, it has to be happy about the popularity of the game.
When Ring Fit Adventure was announced, it was met with skepticism. Some were a bit confused at the hokiness of the launch trailer. It wasn’t clear just how much support Nintendo was going to give the game and the device that comes along with it.
Since the official launch, reviews have largely been positive. It helps this is the first real workout software and hardware released for the Switch. The Wii and to a lesser extent the Wii U were both popular for their workout programs.
While not as popular in the US as it is in Japan, Ring Fit Adventure has a nice headwind. The real question is whether or not Nintendo is going to continue supporting the hardware with other releases.
