Everything we know about ‘Switch 2,’ Nintendo’s next-gen console
Nintendo, notoriously secretive, has so far said nothing – or almost nothing – officially about its next games console. As the Nintendo Switch approaches its seventh anniversary in March 2024, it’s natural to wonder how much longer it will last: seven years is a typical lifespan for a console generation, Switch sales are fall quickly, and the technology that powers the console is showing its age. But Nintendo has categorically refused to address these questions.
However, behind the scenes, Nintendo is preparing for the release of its new machine, briefing its partners and publishing development kits. Information has started to leak and an idea of what form the console will take has started to emerge, as well as when we can expect to hear about it and when we can hope to purchase one.
It’s no surprise that Nintendo is treading carefully. The Switch has been a huge success – it’s the third best-selling console of all time, behind the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s handheld DS – which presents both a big opportunity and a big risk. Historically, Nintendo has struggled to keep up with its most popular formats: Wii and DS were followed by the flop of the Wii U and the relative disappointment (in terms of sales) of the 3DS. Nintendo’s usual emphasis on hardware innovation proved as likely to alienate its audience as find a new one. Will Nintendo break with its own tradition and follow the Switch with a more powerful version of the same formula, or will it try something different?
What are the latest Switch 2 features?
In a interview with Nikkeias reported by VGCNintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has outlined the future of the Switch in a way that strongly supports the release of a successor console during Nintendo’s next fiscal year, which is between April 2024 and March 2025.
Furukawa reiterated something he’s already said: that Nintendo will remain focused on the Switch until the end of its current fiscal year in March 2024. He then added a new detail, namely that Nintendo would continue to support the Switch with new games over the coming months. financial year, until March 2025.
The move from “focus” to “support” for the Switch implies that a new console will launch in Nintendo’s 2024/25 fiscal year, which is in line with what we’ve already heard (see release date section below).
Will Nintendo’s next generation console be called Switch 2?
Regarding his name, the answer is that we don’t know. It should be noted that Nintendo never named its consoles in numerical order, even when they were direct sequels to a previous generation, such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo 3DS. Super Nintendo Switch (or Super Switch!) has a certain ring to it, if you ask us. But for now, “Switch 2” is a usable shortcut, and that’s what we’ll use in this article.
Will the Switch 2 be a hybrid portable console, like the Switch?
The answer here seems to be yes. Recent reports by VGCciting multiple sources after the development kits arrived at partner studios, said the console “could be used in handheld mode, similar to the Nintendo Switch.”
It’s not yet known if the console will feature detachable Joy-Con controllers like the Switch, or if it will have a handheld-only variant like the Switch Lite. But the first signs show that Nintendo wants to closely follow in the footsteps of the Switch, which has sold more than 120 million copies.
When is the Switch 2 release date?
Nintendo hasn’t said when the Switch 2 will be released, but we have some clues.
VGC sources indicated that the console was expected to debut in the second half of 2024, so between the beginning of July and the end of December.
This fits with what we know about declining Switch sales, where Nintendo is in development of the new console, and the release schedule for Switch games. Nintendo had previously ruled out releasing a new console before the end of March 2024, and Switch games are now planned until summer 2024; the latest version of the current calendar is Luigi’s Mansion 2 HDwhich has been given a summer 2024 slot. (It’s also worth noting that the recently announced remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door doesn’t have a more specific release date than “2024.”)
All signs point to a fall 2024 hardware release, with Nintendo hoping to stock enough consoles to avoid shortages during the holiday shopping season.
Will the Switch 2 be backwards compatible?
That’s the big question, with many users hoping – or outright expecting – to port their game libraries over to Nintendo’s next console, as has become the norm with the latest generations of Xbox and PlayStation consoles . The answer remains unknown, nor is it easy to predict.
VGC’s report states that the machine’s backwards compatibility “remains unclear.” Some third-party publishers are reportedly concerned about the potential impact on sales of next-gen titles if the machine were backwards compatible. For its part, Nintendo has (in a rare official comment) stated that it hopes to bring Switch users to the new platform with their Nintendo Accounts; if the Nintendo Account system persists, this would theoretically allow users to easily access past purchases. But it’s not the same as the console being technically capable of it.
Nintendo has a decent, if not perfect, track record when it comes to backwards compatibility support. The Wii played GameCube games and the Wii U played Wii games; Game Boy Advance was backward compatible with Game Boy and 3DS with DS. But the Switch, with its new game cartridge format, imposed a clean break from the past, and Nintendo has done an excellent job re-releasing Wii U games on the machine, particularly the 55 million-selling game . Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Overall, as long as the machine uses the same format for physical releases (see below), Nintendo’s filing suggests it will make the Switch 2 backwards compatible. However, there remain technical obstacles to implementing backwards compatibility, and much will depend on the chip architecture Nintendo chooses for the Switch 2, which is not yet known.
Will the Switch 2 be digital only or will the games be sold on cartridge (or disc)?
Of all the console makers, Nintendo’s ties to the retail industry are perhaps the strongest – stronger even than Sony’s – so it’s extremely unlikely that Nintendo will go digital-only for the Switch 2, although it seems logical for a portable machine.
Indeed, VGC’s report indicated that the new console would have a cartridge slot for physical versions. This is as close to a dead certificate as you can get with the Switch 2 – and it also supports the machine having the same or similar form factor as the Switch, while increasing the likelihood of backwards compatibility.
How powerful will the Switch 2 be? Will it be able to play new AAA games?
Thanks to Microsoft’s legal wrangling over the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and reports of demos Nintendo gave to Gamescom partners, we’re starting to get a sense of the Switch 2’s hardware capabilities.
Internal emails published as part of FTC vs. Microsoft The 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. (Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick later said he hadn’t seen the machine’s technical specifications, however.)
On the contrary, the “Gen8” comparison seems to underestimate the capabilities of the Switch 2. According to Eurogamer‘sand VGCReporting from Gamescom’s closed-door demos, Nintendo showed hardware targeting the console’s specs running. The matrix wakes up‘ Unreal Engine 5 tech demo with ray tracing enabled and “visuals comparable to current generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft.”
This doesn’t mean the Switch 2 will be as powerful as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Instead, Nintendo is likely using clever techniques to reduce demand for the less powerful GPU. VGC reported that the demo ran using Nvidia’s advanced DLSS upscaling technology, which uses AI to increase image resolution, allowing developers to optimize more Easily improve performance and visuals on weaker hardware by reducing internal resolution settings.
Still, the mention of Unreal Engine 5 – which is establishing itself as the industry standard engine, targeting current console hardware – as well as DLSS and ray tracing suggest that Nintendo wants to get closer to the PS5 and the Xbox Series X in terms of performance, and perhaps make it easier for developers to port their home console versions to the Switch 2.
Also at Gamescom, a special, enhanced version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was shown running at a higher resolution and frame rate than on Switch.
The Switch 2 will, however, include a technological downgrade: it seems that the console have an LCD screenunlike the OLED screen found in the current high-end Switch model, as a cost-saving measure.
What games will be available on Switch 2?
Speaking of improvement Breath of the Wild demo, sources were keen to stress that there was no suggestion that an enhanced version of the full game would become a commercial product – although it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if it did.
The leading candidate for a Switch 2 launch game is probably Metroid Prime 4. Of the previously announced Nintendo games, this is the only one without a suggested release date, and Nintendo has been very quiet about it lately. Under these conditions, an exit before the second half of 2024 seems unlikely. Maybe Nintendo will make a cross-gen version for the Switch and its successor, like it did with Breath of the Wild for Wii U/Switch, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for GameCube/Wii.
Other than 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 a brand new Mario Kart in over nine years, and aside from the creation of add-ons for Mario Kart 8 Deluxethe Mario Kart development team has been silent since the release of Arm in 2017. Luxury sold so consistently throughout the Switch’s life that Nintendo had no incentive to release a sequel, but a new platform seems to present the perfect opportunity for Mario Kart9.
Likewise, there hasn’t been a new 3D Mario game since 2017. Super Mario Odyssey. It stands to reason that there will be one on Nintendo’s next platform; The only question is when. Odysseyas Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, appeared during the Switch’s first year of life; perhaps we can expect a repeat of this for the Switch 2.