Nearly eight years have passed since Nintendo first announced its popular Switch console. Now, almost a decade later, the Nintendo Switch 2 is rumoured to be on the horizon.
From the handheld-only Switch Lite to the bigger and brighter Switch OLED, there have been a few incremental updates released over the years but nothing quite ground-breaking enough to qualify as a proper sequel to the original Nintendo Switch.
Finally, the Switch 2 is rumoured to be launching as soon as this week. Keep reading to discover all the latest news and rumours surrounding the Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintendo Switch 2 release date
The latest rumours suggest that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be announced in a Nintendo Direct broadcast this Thursday (January 16). This is according to the Nate The Hate podcast, with the release date being picked up on by VGC.
“I’ve heard that the reveal itself is going to focus almost exclusively on the console itself. There is not going to be any presence of games. There could be a game shown running on the screen, depending on how the trailer is put together, but software is not going to be a focus”, they said (via VGC).
This aligns with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa’s previous claim that Nintendo will make an announcement regarding the successor to the Nintendo Switch before the fiscal year wraps up in March 2025.
Nintendo Switch 2 price
Nintendo has unsurprisingly remained tight-lipped regarding how much the Switch 2 could cost.
With the original Nintendo Switch priced at £279/$299 and the Switch Lite costing £199/$199, we expect a sequel to cost over £300/$300. That could even push as high as €399 (⁓$411/£355) if a recent rumour from French retailer Micromania is true (via @Switch2Stock on X).
Nintendo Switch 2 leaks
One of the most interesting new features spotted on renders of the Switch 2 is the mysterious ‘C’ button positioned on the right Joy-Con directly below the Home button. While a few possibilities regarding the camera, screen captures and casting have been suggested, a recent leak suggests that the C button could be used to access a new in-console chat function.
According to members of a Discord server titled Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s latest firmware update includes references to a feature named ‘Campus’. This feature is expected to offer voice chat and screen-sharing support for groups of up to 12, reported GameRant.
Another rumour linked back to Switch dataminer and leaker ZachyCatGames on the Famiboards forums suggests that the Switch 2’s portable GPU clock speeds could surpass 560 MHz, potentially outperforming the Steam Deck in this regard quite significantly (via TGP).
A previous report from Reuters hinted that the GPU will be powered by a new Nvidia custom-design processor, meaning it could feature a new CPU along with this powerful GPU. We wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo and Nvidia collaborated on this launch as the original Switch was also powered by an Nvidia processor.
It’s long been anticipated that the next interaction of the Nintendo Switch will support a 4K resolution. Bloomberg has also reported that the future console will support Nvidia’s DLSS technology. Put simply, DLSS uses artificial intelligence and clever upscaling technology to boost the frame rate of a game without impacting the visual quality. DLSS is currently used by Nvidia’s high-end graphics cards like the RTX 4000 and RTX 3000 series and has been well received by gamers.
DLSS would make sense on a console like the Switch as it could help to make up for the limited hardware and boost the frame rate high enough to make 4K gaming possible.
Taking a closer look at the 4K rumours, Bloomberg alleged that the company is asking developers to make new Nintendo Switch games 4K ready in docked mode. Bloomberg also claims that up to 11 game studios have had access to an official development kit that featured 4K support. Although it’s possible that this was for the previously rumoured Nintendo Switch Pro, a console that was seemingly shelved in favour of the Nintendo Switch OLED.
This means it’s difficult to know whether these scrapped plans will be re-used for the eventual successor of the Nintendo Switch. It’s entirely possible that Nintendo decides to go in a different direction altogether.
VGC reports that the Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracing, allowing it to generate realistic lighting effects, which the PS5 and Xbox Series X are capable of.
Nintendo has also filed for a patent on new Hall Effect-style joysticks, which could possibly eradicate the existing Joy-Con drift issue on current Switch consoles. This is because the joystick’s physical mechanisms would move to a magnet-based system, removing the chance of erosion over extended periods of time.
VGC reports that Nintendo could boost the storage for the Switch 2 in order to keep up with the inflating sizes of modern games, and will likely retain the cartridge slot in order for it to continue running physical games.
While the Switch 2 may support a higher 4K resolution, VGC suggests that Nintendo will stick with an LCD screen rather than an OLED. This would be done to keep costs low, though we suspect an OLED iteration could launch later down the line as the Switch OLED did in 2021, four years after the original Switch.
Nintendo Switch 2 at CES
Las Vegas tech trade show CES made headlines among Nintendo fans earlier this January when seemingly accurate-looking dummy models of the Switch 2 made the rounds on the showroom floor.
French website Numerama went hands-on with one of these models brought to the show by accessory maker Genki. According to the company, the model – which featured working magnetic Joy-Cons – is based on its own access to a genuine Switch 2 model.
The company also shared that the console will apparently reach the market in April of this year.
Nintendo Switch 2 games
Since the new console has yet to be announced, there are no official games for the Switch 2 yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate on what could be arriving.
Nintendo has been suspiciously quiet about a potential follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Odyssey was released fairly early into the Switch’s life cycle, and there’s no sign of a sequel to Mario’s globe-trotting adventure which might indicate it is being earmarked as a Nintendo Switch 2 launch title. Fans have also been clamouring for a new Mario Kart game since its last iteration, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, launched all the way back in 2017.
A report from website Universo Nintendo suggests that the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible, allowing you to play your collection of physical and digital games on the next-gen console. What’s more, it’s possible that older games could benefit from the performance boost, potentially improving the visuals and loading times.
That’s everything we know about the potential Nintendo Switch 2 so far, but we’ll be updating this article as soon as we hear more.
