I’d almost stopped believing it’d happen, but the highly anticipated announcement has finally hit. Today, on January 16, 2025, Nintendo has officially announced the Nintendo Switch 2.
The successor to the Nintendo Switch looks very similar but comes with a bigger display, upgraded internal hardware, and larger Joy-Cons that attach and detach magnetically (instead of sliding on rails).
Here’s the first-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2:
In the video, we also see straight away that a new Mario Kart is being released for the Switch 2! That’s hardly surprising, of course, but it’s nice to know that it won’t be a lone console release. No other launch games were announced, but we did get a possible release date.
When will the Nintendo Switch 2 release?
At the end of the trailer, we see a date that isn’t too far off: April 2, 2025. That’s less than three months away! But it’s unclear whether this is the release date for the console.
The trailer mentions “Nintendo Direct” with the date, so presumably we’ll get a Switch 2 presentation on that day. We don’t know whether the Switch 2 will be released immediately afterwards. Some believe that a release at the end of April or start of May is more likely, supported by the fact that Nintendo has planned so-called “experience events” from April 4 to 27 in North America. Either way, we won’t have to wait that long before the console releases.
Nintendo still hasn’t mentioned a price for the Switch 2, which is rumored to be slightly higher than its predecessor, somewhere in the range of $399.99. A price bump would make sense if its performance can keep up with an Xbox Series S or Valve’s Steam Deck.
Nintendo Switch 2 specs
We’ll probably find out more information about the Nintendo Switch 2 on April 2, but numerous leaks (some that have come from Nintendo itself) have already revealed a lot.
For example, the console will have an OLED display and backwards compatibility with Switch games. As for hardware, the specific specs (which are still unconfirmed as of this writing):
- Size: 10.67 x 4.58 x 1.24 inches with Joy-Cons attached (about 271 x 116.4 x 31.4 millimeters)
- Display size: 8.4 inches (about 213 millimeters)
- Processor speed: 1,100.8MHz (handheld) and 998.4MHz (docked)
- Graphics speed: 561MHz (handheld) and 1,007.25MHz (docked)
- RAM speed: 2,133MHz (handheld) and 3,200MHz (docked)
- RAM bandwidth: 68.26GB/s (handheld) and 102.40GB/s (docked)
It’s a great day for Nintendo fans because we finally have certainty about the console and when it’s going to release.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
