Earlier this year, Nintendo went on the record and confirmed it would “make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year (ending March 31, 2025).” This gave gamers (like us, desperate for any scrap of news about the Nintendo Switch 2) hope that the device could launch before the start of spring next year. Unfortunately, it seems we may be waiting a little longer than hoped.
During the latest episode of The GamesIndustry.biz podcast (and spotted by VGC), the publication's Christopher Dring explained that while the Nintendo Switch 2 will be announced before the end of March, it is not expected to be released within this current fiscal year. Instead, the Switch 2 release date could be April 2025 at the earliest.
“No developer I’ve spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year,” explained Dring. “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.
Commenting on the industry appetite for the much-rumored Nintendo Switch successor, Dring said, “I don’t think any of us wants a late launch for Switch 2 because we all want a new Nintendo console, everyone gets very excited for it, and we don’t want that crunch of Grand Theft Auto 6 and Switch and all that kind of stuff on top of each other.”
Nintendo Switch 2 could launch later than hoped
The current Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, so there had been hopes of a similar release date for the follow-up gaming machine. But if Dring’s information is correct (and it’s worth noting that despite the generally reliable source this update should still be taken with a grain of salt), then the Nintendo Switch 2 will be surfacing at least a month or two later than some optimistic fans may have expected.
Nintendo Switch 2 rumors have been flying around pretty much all year. While concrete details from the Big N itself have been almost nonexistent (although Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa did say the company’s next hardware would be within the Switch family), the latest rumors suggest that Switch 2 will pack a power boost that could see it rival the Steam Deck. Plus, an unconfirmed spec leak from earlier this year gives us further insight into the power of the machine.
We’re still eagerly awaiting a proper unveiling of whatever Nintendo is cooking up (remember, it might not be a traditional Switch 2), but it would seem we’ll have to wait until early 2025 for our first look, and it may be more than 10 months before we have Nintendo’s Switch successor in our hands. Until then we’ll be keeping a constant ear out for any leaks or updates and be sure to keep you in the loop.
