A new report claims that Nintendo has given those working on Switch 2 games a clearer indication of when the new console will be released.
There have been a lot of Switch 2 rumours recently and not just from some rando on 4chan, quoting his uncle who works at Nintendo. Instead, a new cartridge patent has appeared to confirm backwards compatibility, while component shipment data points to the new console having two fans – implying a significantly more powerful device.
Other details have relied on traditional rumourmongers, but those with a good track record, one of who suggests the new console will have considerable third party support from launch. And now the latest rumour is similarly believable: that the Switch 2 won’t be out until after April next year.
The only official comment Nintendo has made about its next console is that it will be announced before April, since March 31 is the end of their current financial year.
GamesIndustry.biz veteran Christopher Dring claims that Nintendo has warned developers not to expect a launch for the Switch 2 until their next financial year, i.e. somewhere between April 2025 and March 2026.
‘No developer I’ve spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year,’ said Dring, as part of the site’s latest podcast.
‘In fact, they’ve been told not to expect it in this financial year. A bunch of people I spoke to hope it’s out in April or May time, still early next year, not late.’
The talk of more specific launch windows is purely speculative, but he added: ‘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 GTA 6 and Switch and all that kind of stuff on top of each other.’
GTA 6’s release date is also unknown, just sometime in 2025, but Nintendo is unlikely to care to much about that or indeed the concerns of Western developers, when it comes to launch dates.
The original Switch launched in early March, so there’s no chance of that being repeated for its successor, but it’s hard to imagine that if it doesn’t launch in April or May that it will be out any earlier than September 2025.
Update:
Eurogamer has said that it understands Dring’s comments to be ‘correct’ and that April 2025 is ‘the very earliest the console could now arrive.’
Some fan sources aren’t convinced though, with ‘Necro’ Felipe refusing to accept the information and NateDrake (aka Nate the Hate) downplaying the importance of the leak and stating his opinion that the Switch 2 will still launch in the first half of 2025.
At the same time, Bloomberg reporter Takashi Mochizuki has suggested that a March release is now looking increasingly unlikely. He also seemed to imply, via a sad emoji, that even May may be too optimistic.
It’s most common for consoles to launch in late autumn but there are exceptions, most notably the Switch and many of Nintendo’s other portable consoles.
In this case, previous behaviour is not necessarily an indication of what will happen in the future, especially as this leaves open the possibility of an early 2026 launch.
When the new console will be formally announced is just as much of a mystery, although a recent rumour suggested that a September Nintendo Direct has been moved forward to August.
While it’s tempting to imagine that could be to make room for a Switch 2 reveal, there could also be several other more mundane explanations.
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