Nintendo Switch 2: everything we know so far

Rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 (or Switch Pro) have been floating around for a few years now. There was a bit more information and rumors after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was announced in 2019, then the rumors gained momentum after the Switch OLED was released in 2021, and now that the standard Switch has been out for seven years, there are more and more of them.

The rumors are getting bigger and bigger.

There’s no doubt that the Nintendo Switch —s an interesting console: it has a unique and impressive library of games (with more to come this year), the number of features included in Nintendo Switch Online is constantly improving. But it’s not without its flaws. It has enough room for improvement that a brand new console is on the way in the near future. Nintendo recently announced that we won’t see an update to Switch in the next fiscal year, which means there’s hope we’ll see a new version in late 2024.

Nintendo recently announced that we won’t see an update to Switch in the next fiscal year, which means there’s hope that we’ll see a new version in late 2024.

Switch 2 release date speculation

After years of rumors, Nintendo has finally confirmed the existence of a Switch successor and that we’ll know about it before the end of the company’s fiscal year in March 2025.

Switch 2

It’s still unclear if the new console will be released soon after that, in spring 2025, or if it will simply be introduced and released at a later date. The latest leak from the GamesIndustry.Biz podcast suggests that developers have been told that the system won’t be released this fiscal year. If this is true, it means that Switch 2 won’t be released until April 2025 at the earliest. Tokyo Security analyst Hideki Yasuda has published a report that may shorten the wait. He claims that Switch 2 will be released in the first half of 2025, between April and June.

Switch 2 will be released in the first half of 2025, between April and June.

Rumors and news about Switch 2

Besides the release date, there are several other credible rumors about the new system. Of course, take all of these rumors with a degree of skepticism, as Nintendo has yet to admit that a new console is in development. They may also contradict the specs everyone is expecting, but since they’re just rumors, our wishes can still be granted.

Some of these rumors are also skeptical.

Price

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The same Hideki Yasuda report mentioned earlier claims that the Switch 2 will cost $500 (Rmb45,000) at launch.

Internal specs

According to Centro Leaks, a popular source for Pokemon rumors, the next-generation Switch will have 12GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage.

Screen Quality

In terms of specs, the biggest disappointment is Bloomberg’s report that the Switch 2 will come with an 8-inch LCD screen rather than OLED. As for power, according to The Verge, Activision executives were briefed on the Switch 2’s potential power during the Microsoft-Activision acquisition and compared it to the PS4 or Xbox One. While Digital Foundry claims that Nvidia’s T238 chipset will power the Switch 2, it’s unclear if it will be able to utilize DLSS 2 to potentially boost graphics quality to 4K.

Activision’s T238 chipset will power the Switch 2.

Backward Compatibility

It’s what many people are expecting, and if rumors are to be believed, backwards compatibility is a thing to behold! During one of the financial calls, the company stated that “Nintendo Switch will begin its eighth year in March 2024. We will continue to release new games and content for Nintendo Switch without being bound by the traditional concept of a platform lifecycle.” This is backed up by Universonintendo’s rumors, which claim that the console will have backwards compatibility for physical and digital games, and will allow developers to update their Switch games to take advantage of the new hardware.

Improvements (and problems) of Joy-Con controllers

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According to Spanish video game site Vandal, Joy-Con controllers for Switch 2 will connect magnetically rather than using a plastic guide system. While this is great news for anyone who’s ever had trouble removing the Joy-Con from the Switch (it can indeed be a challenge at times), it’s unclear if the older Joy-Cons will be compatible with the Switch 2 with this replacement. Reportedly, the existing Nintendo Switch Pro Controller will work with Switch 2.

See below.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows + Ports

Universo Intendo editor-in-chief Nash Weedle, who has been a reliable source of leaks in the past, has said that both the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows and previous installments in the series should receive new versions for Switch 2 during or closer to the console’s launch.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is expected to receive new versions for Switch 2 during or close to the console’s launch.

The features everyone wants to see in Switch 2

4K resolution and faster processing

While the Switch certainly wasn’t built to compete with the Xbox Series X or PS5 in terms of power, it may not seem powerful enough even for Switch exclusives, let alone multiplatform games. Trailers for upcoming Nintendo games are often accompanied by the phrase “this looks great… for Switch,” and new releases don’t always go as smoothly as fans had hoped. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, for example, proved unusually glitchy at launch, Sonic Frontiers failed to achieve a high frame rate on Switch, and games like Hogwarts Legacy and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum arrived on Switch well after the launch date because they require extra work to run smoothly. While the upcoming Legend of Zelda installment looks great, there’s no telling what it will actually look like on the console.

While the upcoming Legend of Zelda installment looks great, there’s no telling what it will actually look like on the console.

Nintendo has certainly clawed back its slice of the gaming market for those who don’t need better graphics or processing power (do you really need Pikachu in high definition?), but the Switch’s limitations are certainly holding it back, and that problem will only get worse in the future.

The current Switch can run in resolutions from 720p to 1080p and has a frame rate limit of 60fps. It would be cool to get full 4K gaming on the Switch 2 and increase the frame rate potential (so that it at least consistently reaches 60fps).

It would be cool to get full 4K gaming on the Switch 2 and increase the frame rate potential (so that it would at least consistently reach 60fps).

Make OLED screens the new standard

Nintendo Switch has always featured bright and colorful games compared to other consoles focused on mature games, which tend to be darker (visually and content-wise), and its successor needs a screen that reflects that content. When the Switch’s OLED model hit the market in 2021, the Switch’s standard LCD screen immediately seemed washed out. OLED screens are a step ahead of their counterparts, boasting improved black shades, brightness, and color accuracy while consuming less power.

The Switch’s OLED screens are a step ahead of their counterparts, boasting improved black shades, brightness, and color accuracy while consuming less power.

It would be extremely far fetched if Nintendo rejects such a great upgrade and doesn’t introduce an OLED screen as standard on their next console.

More built-in storage

Every longtime Switch owner has experienced storage issues and had to regularly archive game data to make room for new games. The standard Switch and Switch Lite come with 32GB of built-in storage, while the Switch OLED model bumps that up to 64GB. With new games becoming more demanding and taking up more space every year, the idea of fitting more than a handful of premium titles into 64GB is ludicrous. And even some of that limited storage is reserved for system use!”

And it’s a lot more than that.

Switch users can easily expand storage on any of these consoles by buying a large microSDHC or microSDXC card up to 2TB, but these are sold separately and can even cost as much as a new game. It seems odd to pass that cost on to gamers when it’s 100% necessary to maintain a decent digital library of games.

Switch Switch’s new microSDHC or microSDXC card is the only way to keep a decent digital library of games.

Nintendo is expected to switch to an internal SSD when the Switch 2 comes out. The SSD will allow for more internal storage and significantly improved boot times compared to the Switch’s standard flash memory or transfer times from an external SD card. Current games will run better and faster, and developers will have a lot more to work with when creating new games. All in all, it’s a win-win situation.

Improved Joy-Con

Everyone loves the ability to use controllers both on and off the console. What could be better than handing out Joy-Cons to all your friends to play Mario Party Superstars or Mario Kart 8? The Switch controllers’ simple design works — we’re not asking for anything complicated, — but their quality just isn’t up to industry standards. Joy-Cons feel cheap for their cost, aren’t the most ergonomically shaped for comfortable long gaming sessions and inevitably suffer from misalignment issues. This is when the Joy-Con’s large stick moves without the player touching it, causing obvious problems in gameplay.

The Joy-Con’s large stick moves without the player touching it, causing obvious problems in gameplay.

Joy-Con drift — it’s a big problem because it’s been around since the console’s launch, and Nintendo isn’t doing anything to address it in new models. The company has been repairing Joy-Cons out of warranty since 2019, but the process isn’t exactly smooth, and Switch owners shouldn’t have to send such simple controllers in for repair due to design issues.

Color customization options

Nintendo has released some impressive Switch special editions for games like Splatoon 3, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but there aren’t many customization options unless you buy a brand new console or a separate set of Joy-Cons you might not need. There are a few color schemes for the Switch Lite and a few different third-party Joy-Con colors, but beyond that, there are plenty of third-party accessories that may not be up to Nintendo’s standards.

There’s a lot of customization options for the Switch Lite and a few different third-party Joy-Con colors.

Obviously there should be a color scheme for the base model, but wouldn’t it be great if you could order the Switch 2 online and choose your own style for the console, dock, and Joy-Con? That level of customization could make the Switch successor more special and give gamers a compelling reason to upgrade. It would be great if this capability extended to the UI as well, bringing back Nintendo 3DS themes and adding new ways to customize the current Switch’s blank menu screen.

It would be great if this feature could also extend to the UI, bringing back Nintendo 3DS themes and adding new ways to customize the current Switch’s blank menu screen.