Everything we know about ‘Switch 2,’ Nintendo’s next-gen console

Nintendo, notoriously secretive, has so far said nothing — or almost nothing — on the record about its next game console. Nintendo Switch is approaching its seventh anniversary in March 2024. It is natural to ask how long it will be around. Nintendo is refusing to respond.

Nintendo has been preparing behind the scenes for the launch of the new console, by delivering development kits to its partners and briefing them. The information has leaked, revealing the form that Nintendo’s console will have. It also reveals when and how we can buy it.

It’s no surprise that Nintendo is treading carefully. The Switch has been an enormous success — it’s the third-best-selling console of all time, behind only PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s own DS handheld — which presents both a big opportunity and a big risk. Nintendo’s history has shown that it struggles to keep up with its best-selling formats. Wii, DS and Wii U were all followed by the flop Wii U. The 3DS was a relative failure in terms of sales. Nintendo’s usual insistence on hardware innovation has proven as likely to alienate its audience as to find a new one. Nintendo will either break from its tradition, and continue the Switch’s formula with an even more powerful version of the original game or try something new.

Switch 2 News: What’s the Latest?

In an interview with Nikkei, as reported by VGC, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has laid out the Switch’s future in a way that strongly supports the release of a successor console in Nintendo’s next fiscal year — so, between April 2024 and March 2025.

Furukawa reiterated something he’s said before — that Nintendo will remain focused on the Switch until the end of its current fiscal year in March 2024. Furukawa then revealed a further detail: Nintendo will continue to provide new Switch games until the end of the next fiscal year in March 2025.

The shift from “focus” to “support” for the Switch implies that a new console will launch in Nintendo’s 2024/25 fiscal year, which tallies with what we’ve already heard (see the release date section below).

Will Nintendo’s next-gen console be called Switch 2?

Regarding its name, the answer is that we don’t know. It’s worth noting that Nintendo has never before named its consoles in numerical sequence, even when they were direct follow-ups to a previous generation, such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo 3DS. Super Nintendo Switch, or Super Switch! It has an appealing ring, in our opinion. But for now, “Switch 2” is a serviceable shorthand, and what we’ll use in this article.

Switch 2 is a hybrid portable console similar to Switch.

Yes, it appears. Recent reporting by VGC, citing multiple sources after dev kits arrived at partner studios, said that the console “would be able to be used in portable mode, similar to the Nintendo Switch.”

There’s no word yet on whether the console will feature detachable Joy-Con controllers like the Switch, or whether it will have a handheld-only variant like the Switch Lite. But early signs are that Nintendo is keen to follow closely in the footsteps of the 120-million-plus-selling Switch.

What is Switch 2’s release date?

Nintendo hasn’t indicated when the Switch 2 will be released, but we have a few clues.

VGC’s sources said the console was planned to debut in the second half of 2024 — so, sometime between the start of July and the end of December.

It is in line with the information we have about the declining Switch sales and Nintendo’s stage of development for the next console. Also, it fits the schedule Nintendo has set out to release Switch games. Nintendo had previously stated that it wouldn’t release a console before March 2020. It now has Switch titles scheduled until summer 2024. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HDThe summer 2024 release date has been set for. (It’s also worth noting that the recently announced remake of Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door doesn’t have a more precise release date than “2024.”)

Nintendo is reportedly stockpiling enough consoles in order to prevent shortages over the holidays.

Switch 2 will be compatible with Switch 1?

This is the big question, with many users hoping — or outright expecting — to carry forward their game libraries to Nintendo’s next console, as has become the norm with the latest generations of Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The answer remains unknown, and it’s not easy to predict, either.

VGC’s report said that the backward compatibility of the machine “remains unclear.” Some third-party publishers were said to be worried about the potential impact on sales of next-gen titles if the machine is backward-compatible. Nintendo, in a rare comment made on the record, said that it hoped to convert Switch owners to its new platform using their Nintendo Accounts. If the Nintendo Account system is maintained, it would theoretically make it easier for users to access past purchases. But that’s not the same thing as the console being technically capable of it.

Nintendo is a good company when it comes to backwards compatibility, even if they are not the best. Game Boy Advance and 3DS were backwards-compatible, while Wii and Wii U both played GameCube titles. Nintendo, however, has made millions of dollars from its re-releases on Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

On balance, as long as the machine uses the same format for physical releases (see below), Nintendo’s record suggests that it will make the Switch 2 backward-compatible. Backward compatibility is still a challenge, but there are technical obstacles to overcome. A lot will depend on which chip architecture Nintendo chooses for the Switch 2. This information is currently unknown.

Switch 2: Will games only be sold digitally or also on CD/DVD?

Of all the console manufacturers, Nintendo’s ties to the retail industry are perhaps the strongest — stronger even than Sony’s — so Nintendo is extremely unlikely to go digital-only for the Switch 2, even if this would seem to make sense for a portable machine.

Indeed, VGC’s report included the detail that the new console will have a cartridge slot for physical releases. This is as close to a dead cert as we can get with the Switch 2 — and it also happens to support the machine having the same or similar form factor as the Switch, as well as increasing the likelihood of backward compatibility.

How powerful is Switch 2? It will be able play AAA games.

Thanks to Microsoft’s legal wrangles over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and reports of demos given by Nintendo to partners at Gamescom, we are beginning to get a sense of how capable the Switch 2’s hardware will be.

The release of internal emails as part FTC v. Microsoft case revealed that Activision executives met with Nintendo in December 2022 to discuss the console, and came away with the impression that performance would be close to “Gen8 platforms” — in other words, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Bobby Kotick of Activision Blizzard later stated that he did not have the tech specs.

If anything, the “Gen8” comparison sounds as though it might undersell the Switch 2’s capabilities. According to Eurogamer’s and VGC’s reporting on the behind-closed-doors Gamescom demos, Nintendo showed hardware targeting the specs of the console running The Matrix: Awakening’ Unreal Engine 5 tech demo with ray tracing enabled and “visuals comparable to Sony’s and Microsoft’s current-gen consoles.”

This doesn’t mean that the Switch 2 will be as powerful as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Nintendo may be using smart techniques to lower the demands on less powerful graphics processors. VGC reported that the demo ran using Nvidia’s advanced DLSS upscaling technology, which uses AI to upscale the resolution of the image, making it easier for developers to optimize performance and visuals on weaker hardware by lowering the internal resolution settings.

Still, the mention of Unreal Engine 5 — which is establishing itself as the industry standard engine, targeting current console hardware — along with DLSS and ray tracing suggests that Nintendo is keen to get closer to PS5 and Xbox Series X in terms of performance, and perhaps make it more feasible for developers to port their home console releases on the Switch 2.

At Gamescom you can also find a new, enhanced version of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the WildThe game was running in higher frame rates and resolutions than on Switch.

Switch 2 may feature some tech upgrades, though. According to reports, it’ll feature an LCD instead of OLED, like the Switch 2 top model. This is a measure taken by Nintendo in order to cut costs.

What games can I play on the Switch 2 system?

The enhanced Breath Of The Wild demo, sources were keen to point out that there was no suggestion that an enhanced version of the full game would become a commercial product — although it wouldn’t be altogether surprising if it did.

Most likely, the most popular candidate to launch Switch 2 is probably Metroid Prime 4. Nintendo’s in-house games are the only ones that have not yet been announced with a specific release date. It is therefore unlikely that the game will be released before 2024. Nintendo may release it on both the Switch and its successor. Breath Of The WildWii U/Switch compatible The Legend of Zelda Twilight PrincessGameCube/Wii compatible

What else? Metroid Prime 4, there are two glaring gaps in Nintendo’s lineup: a new Mario Kart, and a 3D Super Mario game. There hasn’t been an all-new Mario Kart in over nine years, and aside from making add-ons for Mario Kart 8 DeluxeSince the release, there hasn’t been any news from the Mario Kart Development Team. ArmesIn 2017, Deluxe has sold so consistently over the Switch’s lifetime that Nintendo hasn’t had an incentive to release a sequel, but a new platform would seem to present the perfect opportunity for Mario Kart 9.

Similarly, there hasn’t been a new 3D Mario game since 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey. It’s a given that there will be one on Nintendo’s next platform; the only question is when. OdysseyYou may also like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, appeared during the first year of the Switch’s life; perhaps we can expect a repeat of that for the Switch 2.