The world is changing, and so is the generation of consoles. Nintendo Switch he is over seven years oldtherefore it needs to be updated. There have been rumors about a Nintendo Switch 2 spinning for yearsbut now they Really warms up. A sequel to Nintendo's most successful home console is coming soon, and it's likely will come sooner rather than later.
Will this be a direct sequel to the Switch with updated specs while maintaining the same hybrid functionality, or will Nintendo be weird with this? Will it even be called Switch 2, or will the company release something like a Super Switch or even a New Nintendo Switch? With Nintendo you never know. Heck, maybe this thing will be called Switch U.
In any case, recent weeks have generated feverish speculation regarding all aspects of the future gaming console. However, it's important to note that Nintendo has confirmed very little information. The company works according to its own schedule. With that said, here are all the rumors that are most likely to come true, given industry analysis.
When will Nintendo Switch 2 be announced?
As mentioned earlier, Nintendo marches to the beat of its own drum. We don't know exactly when the console launch event will take place. Many incorrectly assumed that this would happen in the second half of 2024, but this did not happen.
Even Nintendo has trouble keeping the main console release under wraps, so we might know a thing or two before the official announcement. There are parts that need to be sourced and deliveries that need to be made. Senior Analyst at MST Financial noted a sharp increase in costs for production equipment from the Nintendo Hosiden assembler.
When will it be Nintendo Switch 2 come out?
Again, it's more or less a mystery. We're not completely in the dark, but it's mostly rumor and speculation. One thing we know for sure is that Nintendo will announce the Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever it calls it) by March 2025, according to the company. confirmed back in May. Some are saying the release date will be in March, which makes sense considering the OG Switch released on March 17, 2017. However, other reports indicate that console release window later in 2025.
Accessory maker Genki, which has been the main source of leaks in recent months, claims the console will be released in April.
Will this even be a full-fledged Switch sequel?
Nintendo has a strange track record here. The huge success of the Wii was followed by the mysterious Wii U. The Wii itself followed the more traditional GameCube. In other words, it's quite possible that this will be something unusual and not quite a true Switch sequel. However, this time it is unlikely. As much as I'd love to see some wacky VR headsets or a completely crazy console concept, everything points to a more traditional approach.
Developers I've already seen the equipmentthough in a much earlier form and it seems to be a regular old console. While Nintendo hasn't confirmed hybrid functionality, it would be an odd omission given the Switch's absolute financial turmoil. We have also heard rumors about Mini LED displaywhich will be tracked on the hybrid console. It's very likely that it will be a regular Switch 2 or something similar, reminiscent of the Super Nintendo.
Due to this, recent rumors suggest that the design will be reminiscent of the original Switch. According to reporting on VGKPhotos of the console have appeared online, showing an 8-inch screen and magnetic Joy-Con controllers. These controllers appear to have SL/SR buttons and player LEDs on the front panel.
Will there be anything weird coming from Nintendo?
Everything that has been leaked or rumored about this console so far has been pretty traditional. Looks like the original Switch, but better. It's amazing, but will there be some unpredictable Nintendo magic in the game? May be! Recent reports point to two mysterious additions that have people confused.
Genki, an accessory manufacturer, has just published a landing page for their accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2. This landing page features a video that goes into great detail about the layout of the Switch 2. pic.twitter.com/Db7RSk4YlQ
— Bob Wolf (@BobWulff) January 8, 2025
Manufacturer of accessories Genki. The supposed layout of the entire console was accidentally leaked at CES 2025. If the Switch 2 arrives sooner rather than later, it makes sense for accessory makers to have mockups like these. There is a mysterious “C” button in the bottom right corner and no one knows what it does. Can it initiate voice chat while playing? Can controllers be calibrated? Can it create a hologram of Bowser the size of your living room? We'll have to wait and see, because there's always a chance that there won't be a button at all.
As for the updated Joy-Cons, the same leaks seem to point to a new sensor on the connector side of each controller. It looks like very similar to an optical sensorwhich uses a computer mouse. This has led to speculation that players will be able to flip the Joy-Con over and use it as a mouse.
But why would anyone need this at all? I can think of three words. New Mario Paint. In any case, take all this Genki nonsense with a big grain of salt, as Nintendo has stated that the images and videos were “not official.” The accessory maker also stated that its layout was not based on a real consolebut rather “a leak of information circulating in the industry.”
Is Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatible?
If this is a Switch sequel, the next question should be about backwards compatibility. The Switch library is huge and growing, so gamers will be rightfully annoyed if they can't play. Tears of the Kingdom on their new next-gen console. There is good news on this front.
The company officially announced in its recent earnings report that The console will be fully backwards compatible. It will also have access to Nintendo Online, so users can play all the old retro games.
What about the specifications?
Rumors about the specs are all over the place, making them difficult to pin down. We know one thing for sure: it will be more powerful than the ancient Switch hardware, which was already obsolete back in 2017. One analyst allegedly received a specification from Korean United Daily News Switch 2 said it will have an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor8 GB RAM and 64 GB internal eMMC storage. To me, it looks like these specs are about as weak in 2024 as the original Switch was in 2017. However, some reports indicate that console will include 12 GB of RAM.
Another source suggests that the eight-core processor will be housed in a chassis manufactured by NVIDIA. Tegra239 SoC (system on chip). Considering the current Switch is powered by an NVIDIA chip, this makes a lot of sense. The processor will be more powerful, but the main difference with the Switch 2 will be the new GPU. It's all but confirmed that the Switch 2 will support DLSS, NVIDIA's “deep learning supersampling” upscaling technology that will allow the console to render low-resolution games internally while simultaneously outputting high-resolution images. (Fun fact: we were actually writing about How perfect DLSS was for Nintendo Switch 2 when this technology was announced along with the RTX 20 series back in 2018.)
There are still questions about Switch 2 and DLSS: will the system support new DLSS features such as frame generation? Will existing games be automatically cleaned by NVIDIA's algorithm? Regardless of the specific implementation, DLSS scaling would be a huge improvement over the rudimentary methods available to Nintendo Switch developers.
Regarding the display, there are many conflicting rumors. Early reports from reliable sources suggested that the Switch 2 will have an 8-inch LCD display, but there have also been rumors of a 7-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Some analysts suggest it will be an OLED screen, while others say it will be Mini LED display. A mini LED display is essentially an LCD display that is backlit (surprise!) by mini LEDs rather than edge-lit. This provides local dimming, making blacks appear blacker. I'm hedging my bets here. I think it will be a standard LCD to keep costs down, with an OLED or Mini-LED model coming later. However, Mini-LED screens are slightly cheaper than OLED displays, so it's certainly possible at launch.
In terms of resolution, recent reports suggest that the console will output 1080p in handheld mode and 4K when docked. It's much better than OG Switch.
How much will Nintendo Switch 2 cost?
We don't have a lot of pricing information, but we do have a lot of history to work with. The original Nintendo Switch launched at $300, which is practically the magic number when it comes to Nintendo console releases in recent years. The Wii U also cost $300.
However, there are many rumors that Nintendo may increase the asking price of the Switch 2. Numerous stores they said it would be $400or perhaps even more expensive. However, the same analysts who say the console will cost $400 were also pretty confident that it would come out by the end of 2024, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Looking back in history, rising prices had some priority. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. Wii U and Switch prices have risen to $300 and, well, the numbers love to go up. A $400 price tag would make it almost as expensive as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. That would also mean it would be the same price as the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.
Do we know of any game launches?
Nope! But this, of course, a lot of time has passed since then we got a real Mario adventure in 3D, right? That would be a damn good system salesman. Otherwise, your guess is no worse than mine. As a prologue we can expect something from Ubisoft and an unusual title such as 1-2-switch.
If there's some kind of trick or trap with the console, we'll also get a game that takes advantage of that. Double release Metroid Prime 4just like Breath of the Wild And Twilight Princess before that is also possible. Finally, there are rumors that the name of the big launch could be none other than Mario Kart 9.
That's all we know about the Nintendo Switch 2 so far. We'll update this article with rumors we believe and information we gather directly from sources. Any changes made to the article since its original publication will be listed below.
Update, January 10, 2025, 12:40 pm ET: This story has been updated with details about the Switch 2's supposed “C” button, as well as the Joy-Con's optical sensors. We also wrote about the announcement window and the launch of the game. Finally, we looked at Nintendo and Genki's claims about the potential leak.