Key Takeaways:
- UK retailer Very has mass-canceled pre-orders for the Metroid Ravenous Special Edition, priced at £99.99, with no explanation given to affected customers.
- The cancellation email simply states Very is “unable to supply” the item — the Special Edition listing has since been removed from Very’s website entirely.
- The Metroid Ravenous Special Edition includes a physical copy of the game, a SteelBook case, and an exclusive Samus (Metroid Suit) amiibo — and is now sold out at most official retailers.
- Scalpers began flipping the $119.99 / £99.99 Special Edition on eBay within hours of announcement, with listings closing in the $250–$325 range.
- Nintendo has encouraged fans to “check back soon,” hinting at potential restocks before the January 28, 2027 launch.
- Metroid Ravenous is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive developed by MercurySteam — the same studio behind Metroid Dread — launching January 28, 2027.
Very Just Canceled a Ton of Metroid Ravenous Special Edition Pre-Orders
Metroid fans in the UK are waking up to some really frustrating news. Retailer Very has been sending out mass cancellation emails to customers who had pre-ordered the Metroid Ravenous Special Edition, and there’s been zero explanation attached. Just a cold, flat email saying the item can’t be supplied.
The email reads: “Unfortunately, we’re unable to supply the item(s) you ordered below: X0XVL – Metroid Ravenous – Special Edition – Nintendo Switch 2.” That’s it. No reasoning, no alternative offer, no timeline for when or if the order might be fulfilled another way. People who thought they had their Special Edition locked in are now back to square one — and the listing has since been pulled from Very’s website completely.
Nintendo Life confirmed multiple people on their own team received the same cancellation, and reports across social media make it clear this isn’t an isolated incident. A significant chunk of Very’s pre-order customers have been hit.
What’s Actually in the Metroid Ravenous Special Edition?
Before getting into the chaos around supply, it’s worth establishing exactly what everyone is trying so hard to get their hands on. The Metroid Ravenous Special Edition retails for $119.99 in the US and £99.99 in the UK, and it includes three things in the box: a physical copy of Metroid Ravenous for Nintendo Switch 2, a SteelBook case, and the Samus (Metroid Suit) amiibo figure from the Metroid Ravenous series.
That amiibo is a big part of why demand is so high. Nintendo hasn’t confirmed whether the Samus (Metroid Suit) amiibo will be available for separate purchase, and right now it appears to be exclusive to the Special Edition bundle. The amiibo unlocks in-game extras, though exactly what those are hasn’t been detailed yet. For collectors who want the full package — or for Metroid fans who just want that amiibo — the Special Edition is really the only way to get it right now, which is exactly what’s making this situation so frustrating.
Scalpers Hit This One Hard and Fast
The cancellations from Very are only part of the problem. The bigger picture here is that the Metroid Ravenous Special Edition has been getting absolutely hammered by scalpers since the moment it went live following the September 9 Nintendo Direct announcement. The $119.99 Special Edition sold out almost instantly at the Nintendo Store in the US, and reports from UK buyers tell a similar story — it was gone in under two minutes at several retailers.
eBay listings went up within hours of the announcement, and sales have been closing in the $250 to $325 range — more than double the original retail price in some cases. At Best Buy, the Special Edition has reportedly been restocked multiple times but scalper bots have been snapping up each wave within four to twelve minutes of going live, leaving regular buyers empty-handed repeatedly. It’s the same pattern that played out with the Zelda 40th Anniversary console and Pro Controller, and it’s equally infuriating here.
The community backlash has been pointed. Fans aren’t just upset at Very — plenty of the anger is directed at Nintendo itself for not producing enough stock to meaningfully outpace bots and resellers. When a game’s launch Special Edition is basically only accessible at double its retail price through eBay, something has gone seriously wrong in the supply chain.
Why Did Very Cancel the Orders?
Very hasn’t said. No official statement has been issued, and the retailer hasn’t responded publicly to why so many confirmed pre-orders were abruptly voided. The most widely accepted explanation in the community is simple supply allocation: Very accepted more pre-orders than it actually had stock allocated to fulfill, and when that reality caught up with the numbers, existing orders got cut. It’s a frustrating but unfortunately familiar situation with high-demand Nintendo products.
What makes it worse for the people affected is timing. Some people who had their Very pre-order canceled were relying on that secured order and didn’t try to grab from other retailers — meaning Very’s cancellation left them locked out entirely, since the item is now sold out elsewhere too. Some community members noted they actively missed restocks at other retailers because they believed their Very order was safe. The retailer effectively burned those people twice.
Where Can You Still Try to Get One?
Nintendo itself has put out a brief statement encouraging fans to “check back soon” on the Special Edition, which at minimum suggests restocking is being considered before the January 28, 2027 launch. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s something to watch.
In the UK, the Nintendo Store is the most reliable place to monitor for restocks. Other UK retailers like GAME, Smyths Toys, and ShopTo are worth keeping an eye on as well. In the US, Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon are the main spots — though as noted, any restock there has been getting wiped by bots at speed. Setting up stock alerts through tracker sites is your best practical option at this point rather than manually refreshing retail pages.
The standard edition of Metroid Ravenous is not affected by any of this. The digital version is priced at $59.99 / £49.99 and the standard physical boxed copy is $69.99 — both are available through normal channels. If you’re not fussed about the SteelBook and amiibo, you can pre-order without any drama. But if you specifically want the Special Edition and its exclusive amiibo, patience and stock alerts are your best tools right now.
What Is Metroid Ravenous, Exactly?
For anyone who’s been focused on the Special Edition chaos without much context on the actual game — Metroid Ravenous is the direct sequel to Metroid Dread, announced during the September 9, 2026 Nintendo Direct and launching exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on January 28, 2027. It’s developed by MercurySteam in collaboration with Nintendo EPD — the same studio behind Metroid Dread and Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS — with series producer Yoshio Sakamoto expected to be involved once again.
Metroid Dread was a massive deal when it released in 2021. It became the best-selling game in the franchise’s history and essentially validated the return of 2D Metroid after nearly two decades without a proper mainline entry. Ravenous picks up right where Dread left off, dropping Samus onto an unknown moon where an ambush forces her into an underground world. She has to claw her way back to the surface, picking up new abilities along the way.
One of the key new mechanics introduced in the trailer is the ability for Samus to absorb energy directly from enemies she defeats — a satisfying loop that plays into the game’s title in an obvious and clever way. The combat looks even more aggressive and melee-forward than Dread, and the visuals have stepped up significantly for Switch 2 hardware, with the game supporting an optional 120Hz mode. It also carries the 2.5D visual style that made Dread look so sharp, blending 2D side-scrolling gameplay with fully 3D environments.
It is a Switch 2 exclusive — no original Switch version is coming — which puts it firmly in the category of games that are making the Switch 2 upgrade a compelling proposition for Nintendo fans.
The Bigger Pattern Here
The Metroid Ravenous Special Edition situation isn’t happening in isolation. This has become a recurring story with Nintendo’s limited and special editions throughout 2026 — the Zelda 40th Anniversary hardware, the Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave special edition, and now Ravenous have all faced the same combination of limited allocation and scalper bot dominance that leaves genuine fans on the outside looking in.
Nintendo has a massive advantage here that it arguably isn’t using. The Nintendo Store has account limits and direct purchasing infrastructure that could, in theory, prioritize genuine fans over bots. Whether that changes before the January 28 launch remains to be seen. But the anger in the community right now is real and it’s building. People who have been collecting Nintendo special editions for years are saying this generation has become uniquely hostile to actual fans who want to buy at retail price.
If you’re a Metroid fan who got caught in Very’s cancellation wave, keep your alerts on, be ready to move fast when restocks drop, and — as frustrating as it is — don’t count out a restock before January. Nintendo’s “check back soon” language is at least a signal that this story isn’t necessarily over.
For more on what’s going on in the Switch 2 world right now, check out our breakdown of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation’s massive 200GB file size and mandatory download controversy, and our coverage of what Rockstar Games has planned after GTA 6 — because November 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most stacked gaming months in recent memory.
