Nintendo has now ensured that the sequel to Nintendo Switch, the Switch 2, will not come out before April 2025. The company ensured that its then-ongoing fiscal year forecast ending March 31, 2025, does not account for sales of the new console. As per reports, the launch was earlier set for later in 2024 but is now being delayed to enable sufficient supply and avoid scalping issues faced with the launch of the original Switch in 2017.
The Switch 2 is expected to maintain the Switch’s hybrid but introduce innovations such as a wider screen and potentially magnetic Joy-Cons. Rumors of backward compatibility with the original Switch physical and digital games, too, have been presented to offer unity to its vast player base of over 122 million users registered in 2023. The new console will also use the existing Nintendo Account system, as Nintendo has confirmed.
Industry insiders are guessing that manufacturing delays will push the release further into 2025, with a possible goal of a holiday release. Despite these delays, leaked data hints at significant hardware upgrades that would rival devices like the Steam Deck. Hard specs remain unverified, however.
Nintendo’s reveal timing seems to be on par with the initial Switch, which came out in March 2017. Fans had been expecting an early spring launch last year, but recent revelations point to a reveal later this year and sales starting mid-2025 at the earliest.
The new Nintendo Switch continues to thrive in its seventh year, with lifetime sales of 139.36 million units, ranking it as one of the best-selling consoles of all time. Nintendo is attempting to move as much hardware as possible by offering more than one system per household and fresh releases to maintain the momentum.
As rumors begin building for Switch 2, players wait excitedly for a word from Nintendo about specs, prices, and release titles. In the intervening time, spec and leak theories hint at one of the biggest game hardware introductions in history.
