It's been seven years since the original Switch launched, and only three years since the Switch OLED's debut. To say Nintendo fans are ready for a new console is an understatement, and this excitement is only propelled by the constant stream of rumors surrounding the Switch 2.
Nintendo hasn't officially announced the title of its next-gen console as the Switch 2. The company only calls it the "successor to Nintendo Switch," but because Switch 2 is the naming convention most media outlets are using for the console, that's what we're going with as well.
The Switch 2 is widely thought to be an upgrade to the existing Switch rather than a new console design entirely. It's become the third best-selling console of all time, behind the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS, and it's the first successful hybrid console, so why would Nintendo mess with a good thing?
While much of the information we've gathered on the Switch 2 comes from reliable tipsters and leaks, we do have some exciting details directly from Nintendo. With that said, here's everything we've learned so far about the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo ends up naming its next-gen console.
Latest news (Updated: Dec 19, 2024)
- Nintendo Switch 2's rumored 8-inch display is a huge upgrade, but where's OLED?
- Will the Switch 2 be a success? Nintendo prepares for 2025 release
- Nintendo needs to release the Switch 2 soon or risk getting buried by competition
- Nintendo makes a bold claim about the Switch in the wake of "Switch 2" April 2025 rumors
- Do these images show the Nintendo Switch 2? We have our doubts
- The biggest Nintendo Switch 2 leak so far points to a few key upgrades
Nintendo Switch 2: Release date and price
As with any potential console, we can't know its release date until the company itself announces an official launch date. This elusive console has been expected in June, September, and November 2024, and each of these months came and went with no Switch 2 in sight.
The only sure thing we know about the Switch 2 is that it's coming, and Nintendo has officially confirmed that. President of Nintendo, Shuntaro Furukawa, said in a post on X that the company "will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year," which ends March 2025.
During a Q&A with investors in May, Furukawa is quoted saying, "The sales forecast for the [April 2024-March 2025] year does not include the successor to Nintendo Switch." With these two pieces of information directly from Nintendo, we know a Switch 2 announcement is likely before or by March 31, 2025 and a Switch 2 launch could happen from April 1, 2025 and forward.
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…May 7, 2024
According to Japanese media outlet Nikkei, Nintendo may have delayed the Switch 2 launch from its original planned date to ensure it had plenty of stock to go around.
In an investor-focused Q&A translated by IGN, Furukawa addressed potential worries of scalpers snatching up initial stock. He said, "As a countermeasure against resale, we believe that the most important thing is to produce a sufficient number to meet customer demand, and this idea has not changed since last year.”
Although it's clearly not set in stone, we have our hopes set on an April or May 2025 launch for the Switch 2. With the Switch 2 being announced sometime before March 31, 2025, that would give roughly a 2-month window to build up hype and ultimately release the new console.
When it comes to the Switch 2's price, rumors are more evasive. An early rumor from SoldierDelta on Discord offered the possibility of two launch models for the next-gen Switch: a standard model for $449 and a digital option for $400 (or more likely, $399). If this rumor is true, the Switch 2 would be the first from Nintendo to ever be released as a digital-only device.
Considering the original switch retails for $299 and the OLED model retails for $349, this price estimate doesn't seem too unlikely. Spanish publication Nintenduo seems to think the Switch 2 could be priced at $499, but that would put Nintendo's next-gen console at the same launch price as a PS5 and Xbox Series X. Many people, including those in this Reddit thread, don't seem to think a $499 price is likely.
If the Switch 2 receives an OLED display upgrade as well as improvements to internal specs, a $100 price increase from the original Switch's $299 price seems spot-on, but we can only guess right now.
Nintendo Switch 2: Display and other specs
With how successful the Switch OLED display is, you’d think that Nintendo would equip its next-gen console with an OLED display, possibly even with a higher refresh rate. However, it seems like the company might opt for an LCD display panel (albeit a larger 8-inch display) instead to keep costs down, according to gaming tipster NateTheHate. These LCD display rumors are further corroborated by Andy Robinson at Video Games Chronicle.
The rumor continues to grow with a report from Bloomberg, with Research Manager Hiroshi Hayase from analyst firm Omdia claiming the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch with an 8-inch LCD panel. Once again, no mention of OLED.
Nintendo consoles have always been affordable compared to consoles from Sony and Microsoft, so it, unfortunately, makes sense that the next-gen Switch would launch with an LCD display. After a little while, or perhaps even at launch, there will likely be a more expensive model with an OLED display for those willing to pay for the upgrade.
Whether the Switch 2 launches with an LCD or OLED display, we just hope it gets a refresh rate boost to 120Hz from 60Hz.
The original Switch and the upgraded OLED model both feature a Nvidia Custom Tegra processor, and it’s likely that Nintendo would follow this trend in the Switch 2. While nothing has been confirmed yet, a rumor via Eurogamer indicates Nintendo may be receiving a custom variant of Nvidia’s leaked T234 processor.
According to this system-on-a-chip rumor, the T239 processor is based on an “[octa-core] ARM A78C CPU cluster, paired with a custom graphics unit based on Nvidia’s RTX 30-series Ampere architecture.” While we can’t guess the chip’s power or clock speeds, we do have an idea that the Switch 2 could match performance of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, thanks to 2022 emails between Activision Blizzard executives (via Game Developer).
Through Nintendo message board known as Famiboards, one user (LiC) suggests the Switch 2 could have 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage and 12GB of RAM, comprised of two 6GB LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X modules with a 7500MT/s transfer rate. According to LiC, this information came from shipment listings.
An earlier rumor from Paul Eccleston (aka RedGamingTech on YouTube) in January 2024 proposes the next-gen Switch could come with an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and just 64 GB of eMMC storage, which would match the amount of internal storage available on the Switch OLED.
Nintendo Switch 2 possible specs:* DLSS 3.1.* 12 gb of RAM.* Raytracing.So far, we know 3 games that have been demoed:* The Matrix Unreal 5 tech demo.* Breath of the Wild updated.* Final Fantasy 7 R.September 7, 2023
Eccleston did go on to consider the possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro launching with 12GB of RAM. Both the original Switch and the Switch OLED are equipped with just 4GB of RAM, so a jump to 8GB seems more likely than the glorious 12GB some rumors suggest.
That said, Eccleston's suggestion that the Switch 2 will have 64GB of storage seems off. Even if Nintendo doesn't jump to 256GB or even 512GB like some rumors suggest, it doesn't seem likely that the company wouldn't offer any boost in available storage compared to the Switch OLED.
We've also seen early rumors suggesting Nintendo’s next-gen console could have a co-processor chip that would boost power and video output when the console was docked and connected to a 4K TV. However, we haven't heard any recent rumors regarding a co-processor chip.
Nintendo Switch 2: Design and features
We have a good idea of what the next Switch could look like design-wise, thanks to some major insight from Dbrand, a company known for making skins, cases, and other accessories and stirring up drama with — you guessed it — Nintendo.
If you head to Dbrand's website right now, you can see a rotating render of a Switch 2 case with a device mockup inside. And according to Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz via The Verge, the company used "actual dimensions" with the help of a "3D scan of the real hardware" to create its Switch 2 case.
For reference, the original Switch measures 239 x 102 x 14 millimeters with Joy-Cons attached. The Switch OLED is barely bigger, with dimensions of 242 x 102 x 14 millimeters.
Ijaz says the next-gen Switch measures 270 x 116 x 14 millimeters, a considerable increase in size that matches an earlier Reddit leak from September claiming dimensions of 270 x 115 x 14 millimeters.
Ijaz also believes the Joy-Cons are "magnetically attached" with an "ejection button found on the back of each Joy-Con near the top. While magnetic Joy-Cons sound fantastic, we'd also love to see next-gen Joy-Cons deal with the current drift issues. A pair of $80 Joy-Cons eventually becoming unusable due to drift is a common Switch user complaint, and hopefully, Nintendo has come up with a solution in the past seven years.
Dbrand's Switch 2 case also accommodates a new button below the Home button and the extra USB-C port Nintendo is likely putting on top of the next-gen console, which will finally allow players to charge the console while playing in console mode.
No rumors have addressed possible connectivity in the Switch 2, but for faster streaming or downloading games, we'd love to see a jump from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6. Similarly, the current Switch models support Bluetooth 4.1, and we'd expect a next-gen console would hopefully support Bluetooth 5.1.
Then, the current battery life estimate on both the original Switch and the Switch OLED is 4.5 to 9 hours. For more demanding games, like Breath of the Wild, it's often a stretch to reach 4.5 hours on a single charge, even when the display brightness is completely lowered.
With more powerful internals, we're expecting a larger battery to hopefully get the same 4.5- to 9-hour battery life out of the console. That said, it'd be awesome if the battery is big enough to increase battery life further.
Nintendo Switch 2: Potential games
Initial rumors suggested Nintendo's next-gen console wouldn't be backwards compatible with the Switch, but luckily, that's not the case.
In a post on X, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed, "Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch." He confirmed Nintendo Switch Online would be accessible on the next-gen console as well, with more details on compatibility to come "at a later date."
So in addition to the rumored games for Nintendo's next-gen console, players will also have the massive backlog of Switch games between 2017 and present to choose from.
Most rumored games we've heard of this point mainly come from one tipster, who goes by the name of Zippo online. Zippo only has an okay reputation for accurate Nintendo leaks, so take all of this with a grain of salt.
Zippo has predicted a new Mario title, saying "a little birdie has told me that a brand new major Mario title in the works for Nintendo's next system will be using Unreal Engine 4." Because it's almost a given that Nintendo will release a new Mario game for its next-gen console, the juicy part of this rumor is that the game could use Unreal Engine 4.
With how successful Super Mario Odyssey was on the original Switch, it's not crazy to think there could be an Odyssey 2 in the works for the Switch 2.
A few other games Zippo is anticipating include a new 2D Donkey Kong title, a new Monster Hunter game, a possible Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth port, a new Super Monkey Ball game, a new Pokémon game, and possibly the seventh Far Cry game. None of these predictions seem too out there to be true, but none have been confirmed by Nintendo.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released alongside the Switch in 2017, and the original Mario Kart 8 was released almost 10 years ago in 2014. It's time for a new Mario Kart game, and it'd be great to see Mario Kart 9 launch on Nintendo's next-gen console. A leak from user NextHandheld on Reddit (via Boy Genius Report) says Nintendo will launch a special edition Switch 2 bundle with a game that has "9" in the title.
Another series of games that could be making their way to the Switch 2 is the Bayonetta Trilogy, as recently rumored. While not the fourth (numbered) entry to the series, a remastered trilogy would pave the way for a fourth title to follow that fully makes use of the new hardware available.
Similarly, with enhanced hardware, we'd be interested to see Baldur's Gate 3 come to the Switch 2 as well.
Outlook
There are plenty of rumors surrounding the Switch 2, but nothing is ever set in stone until we hear from Nintendo directly.
At this point, Nintendo has confirmed its next-gen console (which the company still hasn't announced the name of yet) will be announced by the end of the current fiscal year, or by March 31, 2025, and that the console will launch at some point in the next fiscal year, which starts on April 1, 2025.
According to @CentroLeaks on X (via Screen Rant), Nintendo will host a Direct event in January 2025 and use it to announce the Switch 2. However, this leaker also says the next-gen console will launch two months later in March, which goes against what Nintendo has officially said.
Whether Nintendo has a Switch 2 launch planned for March, April, or even June, we at least know it's on the horizon, and that's enough for us. Until then, we'll just keep playing games on our Switch OLED and waiting on the edge of our seats.
