Nintendo confirms coronavirus has delayed Switch production
Shipments for preorders of the Animal Crossing model are pushed back.
Japanese gamers won't get their Animal Crossing Switch consoles as soon as they were hoping.
The deadly coronavirus outbreak in China has delayed Switch production, Nintendo said Thursday. Specifically, it has impacted the Animal Crossing version of the hybrid game console. Japanese preorders have been pushed back from Feb. 8 to an undetermined date.
The Japanese company also noted that it expects delays for production of the Switch generally, as well as for the Joy-Con and the Ring-Fit Adventure game. The company moved some of its production from China to Vietnam last year after the US-China trade war impacted production, Reuters reported, but it wasn't enough to counter the impact of the viral outbreak.
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons-themed Switch was expected to go on sale on March 13, a week before the game's release. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on delays to US or European shipments.
As of Thursday, more than 28,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed globally -- and 565 people have died. Most of those infected are in China. There are 45 cases in Japan and 12 in the US, and no deaths have reported in those two countries. The pneumonia-like illness was first publicly reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Dec. 31.
Along with the health risks, the coronavirus has had a ripple effect on businesses and global industries. A number of tech companies, including Apple and Google, have closed offices, limited business travel and experienced supply chain disruptions.
First published at 4:40 a.m. PT on Feb. 6.
Updated at 5:09 a.m. PT: Adds more detail.
