The popularity of the Nintendo Switch shows no sign of waning. Despite being three years older than its next-generation rivals, the family-friendly console still remains one of the most popular games consoles ever made. In 2022, it sold millions more units than Sony’s PlayStation 5 or Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, both of which launched in 2020.
But while the Nintendo Switch still reigns supreme, the console is getting a bit long in the tooth, lagging behind in terms of technical hardware. It’s been almost seven years since the Switch was first launched and, in an earnings call in May, Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa admitted that “sustaining the Switch’s sales momentum [would] be difficult in its seventh year”.
While we’ve seen the launch of the Nintendo Switch OLED in the intervening years, it was a fairly minor upgrade. The console we’re all really impatiently waiting for is the Nintendo Switch 2 – a true next-generation follow-up. Although there’s been zero confirmation of its existence at all, rumours about the Switch 2 are gathering speed, with the latest suggesting there could be two different standard and digital models, and that it might even be released early next year.
We’ve taken a dive through the green warp pipe, and have rounded up all the Nintendo Switch 2 rumours currently swirling in the ether, including details on price, features, specs and more. Take everything here with a pinch of salt. Nothing is guaranteed until Nintendo confirms it.
Nintendo Switch 2 release date rumours: When could the console launch?
Rumours about the Nintendo Switch 2 have been swirling for years. The moment the Nintendo Switch came out, leakers were already discussing a second machine. For ages, many leakers thought Nintendo would release a new Switch console in 2021. Called the Nintendo Switch Pro, it would have upgraded hardware.
Nintendo did announce a new console that year, but it wasn’t the Switch Pro. On 6 July 2021, Nintendo unveiled the revised Switch OLED console, a modest upgrade over the OG model, with a slightly larger OLED display. This wasn’t the Switch Pro we’d hoped for. So, where do we stand today?
With Furukawa’s admissions about the Switch’s flagging sales at Nintendo’s May earnings call, the Nintendo Switch 2 is almost certainly in the pipeline. As for a release date, we know the Nintendo Switch 2 won’t be released until at least April 2024.
At the same financial earnings call, Furukawa stated that no hardware would be coming this financial year, which concludes at the end of March 2024.
On 31 July, Video Games Chronicle released a report claiming the Nintendo Switch 2 would be released in the second half of 2024 and that sources had informed the publication that development kits of the console are “now with key partner studios”, in an effort to “ensure it has ample stock available on day one and to avoid the kind of shortages seen with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S”.
That second-half window release date would line up with what Nintendo’s president said in the earnings call in May. We’re speculating here, but we’re leaning towards a July announcement and a September release date, given the Nintendo Switch Lite and Switch OLED were both announced in July and released in September.
Games leaker SoldierDelta was also the first to provide a release date for the Switch 2. The insider, who leaked details about the new Rise of the Ronin game, claimed in October 2023 that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be released on 24 September 2024 or 3 November 2024.
However, the console may be in gamers’ hands sooner than rumours suggest. According to Eurogamer, Nintendo demoed the Switch 2 at Gamescon in August 2023. In his report, Eurogamer editor Tom Phillips said that while reports have pinned a Switch 2 release in the latter half of 2024, “I understand Nintendo is keen to launch the system sooner if possible”.
Nintendo is also reportedly in talks with Samsung about producing OLED display panels for the Nintendo Switch 2 (more on that below), and Samsung insider Revegnus said on X in early December 2023 that “it looks like the Nintendo Switch 2 will be coming out early next year”. The leaker didn’t provide a source, but it adds to the slowly growing pile of early 2024 release date rumours.
Nintendo Switch 2 specs and features rumours
Rumours about the Nintendo Switch 2’s specs and features are still fairly thin on the ground, but here’s what we’ve seen so far.
There was some commotion in late 2021, a month before the launch of the Switch OLED when Bloomberg released a report stating a number of developers were in possession of a 4K Switch kit. Nintendo swiftly denied these rumours, stating that it had no plans for any new console besides the Switch OLED.
We also want to restate that, as we announced in July, we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, which will launch on October 8, 2021. (2/2)
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) September 30, 2021
The tinfoil hatter in us questions whether Nintendo wanted to quell rumours so it wouldn’t impact sales of the Switch OLED, but that’s just conjecture on our part.
The Nintendo Switch currently uses Nvidia’s (now very old) Tegra X1 chip, which features a 256-core Maxwell GPU. The rumours so far suggest Nintendo will be sticking with Nvidia for the Nintendo Switch 2, despite stiff competition from AMD, which provided the chip for Valve’s powerful Steam Deck.
There was a big Nvidia data leak in March 2022, and data miners found files referencing “NVN2”. NVN is the Nintendo Switch’s graphics API. At the time, “NVN2” hinted at a second-generation version for the rumoured Switch Pro.
even more evidence it's a delayed Switch Pro and not a next gen platform, especially since the president said the Switch is in the middle of its lifehttps://t.co/CRjSQEDn0w
— Nikki™ (@NWPlayer123) March 1, 2022
The files were from 2019, providing credence to the theory that the Switch Pro was in active development but was axed, as suggested by Digital Foundry.
In September 2022, an Nvidia employee expanded on the idea that the Nintendo Switch would make use of a new Nvidia Tegra chip, specifically the Tegra T239 – a previously unconfirmed circuit that older rumours suggested the Switch 2 would use.
Nvidia employee has confirmed by accident the existence of the Tegra 239 SoC.
— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) September 21, 2022
This has been rumored since 2021 to be the SoC that will power the Nintendo Switch's succesor.
This is the first time we have official word for Nvidia that it actually exists. pic.twitter.com/JXbWqIxunt
In late July. Video Games Chronicle (VGC) released a report stating the Switch 2 development kits were now in the hands of Nintendo’s biggest studios. The publication claimed that, according to multiple people with knowledge of the next-generation console’s plans, it “would be able to be used in portable mode, similar to the Nintendo Switch”.
While, at the time, two of VGC’s sources also claimed the Nintendo Switch 2 would have an LCD display instead of an OLED panel, the latest rumours from December 2023 suggest Nintendo and Samsung are currently in talks over the supply of OLED displays. The rumour comes courtesy of South Korean news site ChosenBiz.
Both statements could actually be true. Leaker SoldierDelter also stated in their Discord leak that the Switch 2 could come in a standard edition and a digital edition. Though the leaker didn’t mention anything about an OLED display, Nintendo could theoretically save the OLED display for the standard edition and the LCD display for the digital edition.
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As well as rumours of the release date and display, VGC stated the Nintendo Switch 2 would have a physical cartridge slot, like the original model. Its sources did not provide details on backwards compatibility, however.
While there has been no word on 4K support, a 2021 patent filed by Nintendo suggested it was working on 4K upscaling. VGC added to this rumour in September when its sources were shown the Nintendo Switch 2 at Gamescon. According to the publication: “One Switch 2 demo is understood to have been an improved version of the Switch launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, running at a higher framerate and resolution than the original game.”
VGC’s source was also shown The Matrix Awakens running on the machine, which was used as an Unreal Engine test demo for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. “The demo is said to have been running using Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology, with advanced ray tracing enabled and visuals comparable to Sony’s and Microsoft’s current-gen consoles,” the report reads.
Nintendo Switch 2 price rumours: How much could it cost?
The Nintendo Switch 2 could be significantly more expensive than the original Nintendo Switch’s launch price according to leaker Zippo and its “numerous sources” at Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch 2 will cost $399, which works out to about £314. That’s roughly the same price as the Nintendo Switch OLED, which cost £309 at launch.
“It’s the price that works in terms of the power of their new system, it’s the price that works for them making a decent profit, and it’s the price that they think works for the audience that they’re trying to maintain. No more. No less,” the source told Zippo in its report.
As well as providing information about potential release dates and two different models of Switch 2, SoldierDelta offered up prices for both machines, though stated the prices could change. According to the leaker, the digital edition Nintendo Switch 2 could cost $400 (£317, which lines up with Zippo’s report), and the standard edition could cost $449 (£356).
The best Nintendo Switch deals
Nintendo Switch OLED with a free copy of ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ and a three-month Switch Online membership: Was £346.97, now £299.99, Argos.co.uk
This Switch OLED bundle has been reduced by nearly £50 at Argos. It’s the best console Nintendo has ever made, and our review praised its “colourful display, better build quality and bigger storage”, making it “the best version yet”. With this deal, you’re essentially just paying for the console and getting Mario Kart and a three-month Nintendo Switch Online membership for free. Pick it up now and you’ll be racing around Rainbow Road (online) in no time.
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For discounts on games and offers on consoles, try the links below:
Looking to upgrade your machine? Have a read of our round-up of the best games consoles