We’re fast approaching a decade of the Nintendo Switch’s handheld reign, and we’re more than ready to see what the Nintendo Switch 2 will bring. The wait isn’t going to get any easier, though, as the forthcoming handheld upgrade is reportedly set to skip over any potential early 2025 launch windows. So when can you get hands-on with the Switch 2?
In the latest GamesIndustry Microcast episode, head of games B2B Chris Dring delves into what plans Nintendo supposedly has in the works for the Nintendo Switch 2’s arrival. Although Nintendo is remaining tight-lipped about the console, Dring claims that game developers aren’t expecting it to launch at any point in the next financial year – which ends in March 2025. On the possibility of new Switch game development, Dring says that “no developer I’ve spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year.”
Going one step further, Dring expresses that developers have been told to “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, [or] still early next year.” In theory, an earlier Nintendo Switch 2 would be ideal as next year continues to set itself up as an incredibly stacked time for massive releases.
But theory can only get you so far, when in practice Nintendo’s latest financial report didn’t give any kind of inclination as to when the console will hit shelves.
The Nintendo Switch continues to shift an enormous amount of units as we enter its eight year of existence. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella reports that in the United States the “[Nintendo] Switch is only 1.1M units behind PlayStation 2 in lifetime sales.”
What we actually do know is that Nintendo will reveal the console in the coming months, but a release date remains off the table. When it does arrive, it could stand tall as a worthy rival to any of the best Steam Deck alternatives.
Leaked specs supposedly reveal a Steam Deck-tier power upgrade for the Switch 2, which will be ideal for getting all the juice you can possibly get out of it. The recent announcement of the brand-new Nintendo Switch Joy-Con stand appears to hint at how the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons will function, and it already has our wallets crying.