16 min read
The Switch is Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all time, and widely beloved for its rich library of games—a dramatic turn from the middling Wii U before it. But it’s been seven years since the Switch launched, and fans are getting antsy for Nintendo’s next big thing.
Luckily, it may not be far off. Rumors and reports point to a Switch successor that will pack in more power than the original while maintaining its winning blend of home console and handheld functionality. We'll call it the Switch 2 for now. And Nintendo has now officially confirmed its existence.
Reports suggest that major game developers have already been shown the new hardware, which—if true—may suggest a not-too-distant release window. Here’s everything we’ve heard so far about Nintendo’s next handheld game console, and stay tuned as we will update this story regularly with new details and future official announcements, too.
It's official: Nintendo is making a successor to its wildly popular Switch console. Granted, that's no surprise to anyone that's followed the video game industry for more than a minute. But following years of rumors and leaks, there's finally something official.
On May 7, 2024, Nintendo's official corporate account tweeted the following statement:
"This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation."
Nothing more is official yet—but leaks and reports from major publications point to a more powerful game system that maintains the same convertible approach. Nintendo’s current Switch is essentially a portable console that can be plugged into a dock and played on your TV, although the Switch Lite variant is purely handheld.
Bloomberg reported in May 2023 that display manufacturer Sharp was working on screens for an upcoming handheld console. Sharp has worked with Nintendo before, and Nintendo is by far the biggest player still making portable devices that are purely focused on playing video games—although Sony has a new PlayStation Portal that can play games from a paired PlayStation 5, plus Valve’s Steam Deck is popular amongst PC die-hards.
And even ahead of the May 2024 announcement, Nintendo was clearly planning for what’s next. In response to a fan question in June 2023, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said, “As for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next-generation machine, we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers, while utilizing the Nintendo Account.”
But for now, Nintendo appears content to focus on the original Switch and hold back details on the next hardware until it's good and ready. In November, Furukawa said on an earnings call that "rumors are circulating mainly on the internet as if they were public information, but they are inaccurate."
Interestingly, many developers have admitted to working on Switch 2 games, even if they're not willing to put their names to it yet. For the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC) State of the Game Industry survey (via VGC), released in January 2024, about 8% of the 3,000 respondents admitted that they're currently working on games for Nintendo's next console.
That's about 250 people, but we don't know what their roles are or how many different studios they work for. Even so, it shouldn't be surprising, given the rising wave of leaks and reports.
Reports had long pointed to a late 2024 release target—which would be about seven-and-a-half years after the original. But with no reveal as of this latest update on September 6, it looks all but certain that the console won't release this year. That said, there's growing speculation that Nintendo plans to show off the hardware very soon.
In February 2024, reports began surfacing that suggested that the Switch 2 will instead release in Q1 2025 instead of at the end of this year. VGC reported that a Brazilian journalist Pedro Henrique Lutti Lippe broke the news via a YouTube video, and then Eurogamer reports that it confirmed the shift with developers working on games. Nintendo reportedly told developers to plan for Q1 2025 instead of late this year.
Industry insiders are starting to speculate that Q1 is unlikely, however. In an August 2024 podcast episode from GamesIndustry.biz, editor Chris Dring said that recent chatter points to a later rollout beyond the end of Nintendo's current fiscal year, which concludes in March 2025.
“No developer I’ve spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year,” Dring said, per VGC. “In fact, they’ve been told not to expect it in the [current] financial year. A bunch of people I spoke to hope it’s out in April or May time, still early next year, not late."
In September 2024, rumors began to circulate that Nintendo is gearing up to showcase the Switch 2 for the first time, ahead of a potential launch in 2025. GamesIndustry.biz EIC Christopher Dring tweeted about "industry whispers around ‘something’ Switch 2-related happening this month," per Kotaku, with other journalists acknowledging the growing speculation that an announcement is imminent.
The timeline could match that of the original Switch, which was showcased to the world in October 2016 ahead of its March 2017 release. If Nintendo is planning on releasing the Switch 2 next spring, then revealing it to the world in the next few weeks would maintain a similar rollout schedule.
In October 2023, a leaker—who WCCF Tech said has previously shared reliable information—claimed that the price point for the Switch 2 will be $449 for the base model and $400 for a version that is fully digital without cartridge support.
By comparison, the original Switch launched for $300 in 2017, with the purely handheld Switch Lite rolling out for $200 in 2019. With some premium enhancements (including a larger, bolder screen), the Nintendo Switch OLED model shipped for $350 in 2021.
The VGC report suggests that Nintendo may use LCD screens instead of OLED panels to keep down costs, but it doesn’t indicate what kind of price point Nintendo is targeting with its next console. Nintendo’s last three console systems have avoided using the latest, cutting-edge tech to keep prices down. Will that hold true again this time around?
Any in-demand console launch is inevitably plagued by shortages, but Nintendo's president says the company is already thinking ahead to how to minimize the impact the next time around.
In an investor-centric Q&A from June 2024 translated from Japanese by IGN, Shuntaro Furukawa said that Nintendo is thinking ahead to supply issues and looking into how local laws and regulations could help stymie the resale market that many consoles get snapped up and sold into at inflated prices. Furthermore, the firm doesn't anticipate significant component shortages that could slow console manufacturing.
“Although we were unable to produce sufficient quantities of Nintendo Switch hardware last year and the year before due to a shortage of semiconductor components, this situation has now been resolved," he said. "At this time, we do not believe that the shortage of components will have a significant impact on the production of the successor model."
Leaks and rumors have largely pointed to a similar handheld-meets-home-console approach for the Switch 2, but there's still room for potentially substantial design changes within that kind of model.
A Nintendo patent application, filed in November 2022 but only published publicly in October 2023 (and first reported by Game Rant) points to a dual convertible device that recalls the company's earlier Nintendo DS and 3DS handhelds.
Image: Nintendo
However, there's a different angle here—it's apparently convertible, letting players choose to use the device with a single screen, with two stacked screens, or even to disconnect them and use them separately. Since they're wirelessly connected, that could potentially open up the possibility of two-player gaming using a single separated piece of hardware.
Of course, a patent application doesn't mean that Nintendo is definitely going this route for the next-generation Switch. Who knows? Maybe Nintendo is thinking about reviving the sensationally popular DS line. Or maybe it's just an idea that will never actually be used, like so many tech giant patent applications over the years.
Image: Nintendo
In April 2024, an accessory manufacturer named Mobapad wrote in a blog post that it learned that the Switch 2 will have magnetically-attached Joy-Con controllers, rather than the snap-on controllers of the original Switch. The "magnetic suction" that Mobapad reported could be enabled through electropermanent magnets, Polygon suggests, perhaps with an on-off switch to attach or remove them from the device.
Purported Nintendo Switch 2 renders from September 2024.
In September 2024, numerous purported renders of the Nintendo Switch 2 surfaced on Chinese social media, made their way to Reddit, and then ultimately were shared widely across Western social media and covered by the gaming press.
Broadly, they depict a console that looks very much like a larger version of the Switch—and not very different otherwise. The renders appear to show what an 8-inch screen would look like on such a device, and depict subtle differences in how the newer, larger Joy-Cons would attach to the unit magnetically. There also appears to be a much larger kickstand on the back. But overall, it looks like the Switch.
Reports suggest that Nintendo will not try to compete with the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X as the standard-bearers for home consoles and instead deliver a gaming experience with a bit less fidelity. That's been the standard Nintendo approach for a few generations now. Even so, it sounds like a significant improvement over the Switch.
In September 2023, leaked documents from major game publisher Activision showed that the company had evaluated the hardware in late 2022, ultimately surmising that the Switch successor will have similar power to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One hardware.
While those are 10-year-old home consoles, it still would be a notable step up from what the original Switch can handle. The Switch’s hybrid home-plus-handheld model also means that Nintendo has to keep in mind a slim form factor and battery life expectations, so it’s unlikely that we’d even see a Switch-like device with top-end internals at a reasonable price. VGC also reported that the Switch 2 is expected to keep a cartridge port for physical games.
Eurogamer reported that Nintendo showed off private tech demos for the Switch 2 to developers at the Gamescom conference in August 2023, and that it used an upgraded version of 2017’s hit The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a demonstration of the new hardware’s capabilities.
VGC supported that report and added that Nintendo also used Epic Games’ The Matrix Awakens tech demo for Unreal Engine 5, with capabilities like ray tracing (realistic lighting effects) and AI-driven visual upscaling tricks enabled. Another rumor points to the use of "ray reconstruction," a less hardware-intensive way of delivering ray tracing effects with the help of AI, via Nvidia's DLSS 3.5 tech.
All told, this may point to hardware that is actually more capable than the PS4 or Xbox One, even if it doesn’t quite match the benchmarks of the current-gen PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. It could be relatively well equipped in terms of RAM, however, with noted leaker Felipe Lima suggesting that the device with have 12GB onboard—that's more than the Xbox Series S console at 10GB.
A February 2024 report from Reuters cites a source claiming that the Switch 2 will use a custom Nvidia chip, much like the original Switch hardware did.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furakawa suggests you shouldn't believe everything that's been reported about the Switch successor, however, saying in November 2023 that reports that hardware was demonstrated for developers are "untrue." But he may just be playing coy until Nintendo is truly ready to show its hand.
According to a January 2024 report from Bloomberg, Omdia analyst Hiroshi Hayase says that Nintendo has picked a sizable 8-inch display for the Switch 2, and the display will use LCD tech as other reports have previously noted. Nintendo declined comment. The current Switch OLED model has a 7-inch screen, so this would be larger than any original Switch device.
Mobapad also points to an 8-inch display, which it says it be upgraded from 720p HD resolution on the original Switch to 1080p Full HD resolution on the successor.
You can bet that we’ll see Nintendo’s tried-and-true franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, and many others in the mix before long. And there are already rumors circulating about other big games headed to Switch 2.
A leaker called Zippo, who Tom's Guide describes as having a "reasonable track record" with previous scoops, says that Nintendo is preparing a big new 3D Super Mario game to launch with the Switch 2. Will it be a sequel to the brilliant Super Mario Odyssey on Switch or something totally new? We don't know just yet.
Zippo also claims that Nintendo will debut a new Mario Kart game in 2025 that will reportedly be called Mario Kart X. Wait, "X" as in 10? While Mario Kart 8 was the last big mainline entry on Wii U and then ported to Switch, the mobile game Mario Kart Tour could effectively be called the ninth entry. Zippo describes the new Mario Kart as "one of the most expensive games Nintendo has ever put into production," so there may be a lot riding on it.
The same leaker previously said that Nintendo's EPD Tokyo studio is working on a new Donkey Kong game that's slated for the company's next console. In September 2023, a leaker and independent journalist who goes by "Necro" Felipe Lima said that the as-yet-unannounced Far Cry 7—the rumored next entry in Ubisoft's popular open-world shooter series—will release on the Switch successor at the same time as other platforms. Insider Gaming pegs the Far Cry 7 release for fall 2025, so it may be after the Switch 2 is already released.
After Rockstar Games' official reveal of Grand Theft Auto 6, which is currently announced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, it begs the question: Will it come to Switch 2, too? And perhaps more pressingly, will the Switch 2 be powerful enough to run it?
There's no official word for now, of course, and there wouldn't be until Nintendo actually reveals its next console. But in the meantime, the technical experts at Digital Foundry are dubious that the Switch 2 will have enough power to handle Rockstar's next big game—at least based on the leaks so far.
"I’d love to say it would happen. I don’t think it will, realistically," said Digital Foundry founder Richard Leadbetter in a YouTube video (via IGN). "It’s a mobile chipset. We’ve seen a lot of amazing things on the Switch 1. Switch 2 is going to be a lot better, a proper generational leap, and forward-looking in many ways. But the stuff they seem to be rolling out for GTA 6 is possibly beyond that."
"It seems a step beyond," he added, "and out of character with what we know about Rockstar’s M.O."
What about Electronic Arts? EA has been an inconsistent Nintendo platform supporter over the years, so it's unclear whether the major publisher will embrace the Switch 2 after a half-hearted release strategy on the original Switch.
When asked in January 2024 how it would approach Nintendo's next console, EA CEO Andrew Wilson had to tiptoe around the question, responding that he would "absolutely not comment on anything that has not been announced or acknowledge it in any way." But broadly, Eurogamer reports, he said the company is excited for "new platforms" as a way to bring new types of games to even more players.
As mentioned above, Nintendo is reportedly using an upgraded version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to showcase the system’s tech capabilities to developers, but there’s no indication at this point that Nintendo will actually release an enhanced port of the 2017 smash.
But it begs the question of whether the Switch 2 will be backward-compatible with original Switch games, and if so, whether they’ll benefit from the increased power of the new hardware. Imagine if you could pop in your Breath of the Wild cartridge and see a much more lavish rendition, similar to how PC games can scale to match their hardware.
Recent reports shared by Eurogamer in February 2024 suggest that Nintendo will offer just that, letting users play their original Switch games (both physical and digital) in the Switch 2 hardware with enhancements. Developers will reportedly need to update their games to unlock such upgrades, however, which means not every game will necessarily take advantage of the Switch 2's improved power. Mobapad's report also suggests backwards compatibility with both physical and digital games.
It’s a lot of speculation for now, but for those who followed the development of the original Switch ahead of its release, many of the early leaks and reports proved to be true—and ultimately coalesced into Nintendo’s triumphant return after the Wii U flop.
We’ll follow the Switch 2 story in the coming months as more and more details emerge, so watch this space.
Editor's note: This story was originally published on September 19, 2023 and last updated on September 19, 2024.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa
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