Switch 2: all the rumors about Nintendo’s next console

Nintendo shared the first details about the Nintendo Switch 2 in a video published Thursday. Nintendo doesn’t give a specific release date for the console besides “2025.”

The console looks a lot like the original, but it’s bigger. In the video, the Joy-Con controllers are black with colored accents, and they attach to the side of the console instead of sliding on and off. The Joy-Cons appear to snap on quite easily — leaks have suggested they could be attached via magnets.

Best Buy in Canada wrote in a now-removed blog post that the company will open pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 on April 2nd so that customers have the chance to secure their console early. Best Buy hasn’t said what time the preorders will open; however, it’s on the same day as the Nintendo Direct presentation that’s all about the new Switch 2, which starts at 9 AM ET / 6 AM PT.

Nintendo opened the first Nintendo Switch preorders immediately following a presentation in January 2017, and you had to physically go to a Best Buy or Target to secure a preorder before its launch on March 3rd, 2017. US retailers, including Best Buy, have yet to confirm they will have preorders ready for the Switch 2 after the presentation.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is already official, but there’s a lot we still don’t know — like, will Nintendo’s new handheld support the NFC-equipped Amiibo figurines that can wirelessly unlock content in games?

Today, it seems likely they will, because filings at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) reveal the console will support NFC. They even specify that the RFID feature will be located in the right Joy-Con, just like it was in the original Switch.

A video on Nintendo’s Switch 2 website shows how the trigger (or is it a button?) on the back of the Joy-Con controllers disconnects them from the console, as spotted by Polygon.

In the video, the trigger is pressed down a tad before a final push releases it from the console. As the Joy-Con moves away, you can also see a small cylinder receding back into the top part of the inside of the controller; to me, that indicates that when you push the trigger, you’re actually pushing out that cylinder to help bump the Joy-Con out.

Nintendo’s taking the Switch 2 on tour. With the console now revealed, the next question on everyone’s mind (outside of what games will be available at launch) is when will we be able to get our hands on it. While Nintendo hasn’t shared the release date for the console, it is offering the chance for the public to preview it before launch at a series of live events held across the world. Here’s what you need to know in order to demo the Switch 2.

The Switch 2 will be demoed in several cities across North America: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Toronto. You can see the exact dates and locations on Nintendo’s website here. (There will also be events across Europe and Asia with registration for London and Tokyo already live.) But getting the chance to play for yourself isn’t as simple as showing up and waiting in line. There’s a registration process to go through first and registering doesn’t guarantee you’ll get in.

During the Switch 2 reveal, Nintendo teased the next entry in its Mario Kart series. We likely won’t know more details about the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 until Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct event in April, but Nacon has already announced some of the first accessories for the new handheld designed to improve the ergonomics of its Joy-Con controllers for racing games, as spotted by Nintendo Life.

Several companies were prepping peripherals for the Switch 2 well before Nintendo officially revealed its new design, including Dbrand, Genki, and smaller accessory makers whose cases and screen protectors gave us our first peeks at the console’s redesign.

The Switch 2 exists. We know that for sure. It’s bigger — seems like we know that, too. But what else do we know about the sequel to one of Nintendo’s most innovative and bestselling consoles? Maybe not as much as you might think.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we run down everything we know, and don’t know, about the Switch 2. The Verge’s Richard Lawler, Ash Parrish, and Andrew Webster join the show to explain all the new stuff we saw in Nintendo’s trailer, all the things we’re still wondering about, and why exactly Nintendo chooses to launch its consoles this way. It’s all a little odd, but let’s be honest: it’s the Switch 2. What else did you need to know?

Nintendo has finally revealed its new console, debuting the Switch 2 with a short video that went heavy on visuals but light on information. The video was paired with a brief follow-up press release from Nintendo that also didn’t go into much detail, with the company ostensibly saving all the juicy stuff for the Switch 2 Direct set to take place on April 2nd. While we wait for official word, here are the burning questions we still have about the Nintendo Switch 2.

Perhaps the most glaring omission in the Switch 2 reveal was the fact that Nintendo didn’t say anything about how powerful the new console is. We can see that the console is bigger, but what’s the screen size? Is it OLED or LCD? Is the screen resolution still 720p? Is 4K resolution supported?

The first Nintendo Switch basically had the road to itself, and Nintendo instantly proved just how awesome a hybrid console and handheld could be, leading to massive success. We now know that the Switch 2 is set to launch in 2025, but it will be released into a world that’s packed with very capable handheld gaming PCs that could present an interesting challenge to Nintendo, especially following news from CES 2025.

Valve’s Steam Deck kicked off the handheld gaming PC push in large part because its Linux-based SteamOS makes playing your games just about as easy as it is on consoles. That’s why one of the biggest CES announcements is that Valve is going to let people install SteamOS on other handhelds as soon as April, potentially making the entire handheld PC gaming market a lot more appealing.

Nintendo has finally revealed the Switch 2 — but it didn’t reveal everything. Even still, the new console looks pretty much like a bigger, more refined Switch. Sure, that’s the straightforward and expected move from Nintendo. But it’s also exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

The first Switch was a revelation. When it launched, I marveled over being able to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on my TV and then take the console out of the dock and play in handheld mode curled up on the couch. Nintendo absolutely nailed the execution of combining its console and portable expertise into one great device, and ever since, the Switch has been a constant companion at home and while traveling.

You can always count on Nintendo for a surprise. This is the company that followed the Game Boy with a strange dual-screened handheld and broke out of its GameCube slump with a console focused on motion controls. It’s the company that lost its lead with the Wii U and then gambled on another innovation — the portable hybrid known as the Switch — to ultimately get back on top. All of those were big, risky swings that seemingly exemplified the company’s playful, experimental ethos.

The Switch 2, on the other hand, is… a bigger, better Switch. It’s kind of boring. But it’s also exactly the right move from Nintendo. At a time when people expect their games and experiences to carry over between devices, the old console paradigm of starting over with a new generation doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. And since Nintendo hit a home run with the original Switch, it has the runway to be a little bit boring this time.

The arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 heralds some much-needed improvements over its predecessor, especially its Joy-Con controllers. Here’s a quick breakdown of what the announcement trailer showed us about the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons.

Before the official reveal of the console, there were rumors alluding to how the new Joy-Cons would work and their internal mechanisms. The most significant rumor was that they were held to the console via magnets, and in the reveal video, that appears to be the case. The video features the Joy-Con seemingly snapping to a cover as though attracted by a magnetic force.

We don’t know when the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch (aside from later this year), but we do know when you can get your hands on the hardware — at least briefly. Nintendo is taking the Switch 2 on tour with a series of events it’s called the “Nintendo Switch 2 Experience.” Players around the globe will be able to check out the new console for themselves and presumably play brand-new games, like the just-teased next entry in the Mario Kart series.

The events will span North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe and kick off in April — which is also when Nintendo will be hosting a Direct event to share more details on its new console. Here’s the full schedule, and you can keep an eye out for tickets right here. Nintendo says the tickets “will be made available through a free-to-enter, randomly selected drawing.”

Nintendo is finally making a new Mario Kart. While the official announcement of the Switch 2 didn’t feature much in the way of game announcements, the company did tease the next entry in the Mario Kart series. We don’t know anything about it really, though. There’s currently no title or details about the game. That should change later this year, as Nintendo is planning a Switch 2 Direct event for April.

It’s been a long time coming. Mario Kart 8 originally launched in 2014 for the Wii U, before an upgraded edition hit the Switch three years later, where it became the platform’s bestselling title, moving more than 64 million copies. Of course, it’s not like fans have been without new content; the Switch version of Mario Kart 8 got a huge number of DLC add-ons, which doubled the number of available tracks. Nintendo also released a mobile spinoff called Mario Kart Tour in 2019, though it stopped receiving updates as of 2023.

Now that Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 has put to rest years of anticipation and rumormongering, it’s time to hear more information about the console and, importantly, all the games. The company has announced it will hold a Switch 2 Direct scheduled for April 2nd.

The Switch 2 reveal trailer showed footage that looks to be a new Mario Kart game, which is a good indication it’ll be a launch title. There’s speculation that the forthcoming Metroid Prime 4 might straddle both consoles the way Breath of the Wild launched on both the Wii U and the Switch back in 2017. The Switch 2 Direct might also reveal the follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Who knows?

Nintendo has a new console on the way, but you can still hang onto those old games. The company has confirmed that the just-announced Switch 2 device will support cartridges from the original Switch.

The news shouldn’t be too surprising. Late last year, Nintendo confirmed that the then-unnamed console would be backward-compatible with the Switch. However, that original statement — “Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch” — wasn’t clear on whether that included physical games as well as digital. Now we know for sure. Additionally, Nintendo Switch Online, which includes a growing library of retro games and other features like a music app, will also carry over between the two devices for subscribers.

Nintendo’s announcement of the Switch successor is imminent. Just how imminent is anyone’s guess, with the company stating that it would reveal info on the console before the end of its fiscal year in March. With just over two months to go until the promised deadline, speculation about the console, its specs, physical profile, and more have reached a fever pitch. So before the official reveal, here’s everything we think we know about Nintendo’s next console.

The only concrete, Nintendo-confirmed piece of information we know about the new console is that it’ll be backward compatible with the Switch. Everything else has come by way of leaks and info supplied by third-party manufacturers. Late last year, one such manufacturer, Dbrand, debuted its Killswitch carrying case meant for the Switch 2. According to Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz, the Killswitch is based on the “actual dimensions” of the new console obtained from a “3D scan of the real hardware.” But in an interview with The Verge, he declined to say exactly how or where Dbrand obtained such information.

New day, new Nintendo Switch 2 leaks. Nintendo is getting ever-closer to its April 2025 deadline to reveal its Switch successor, but thanks new renders from OnLeaks and 91Mobiles, we may now have an even better idea of what the new console might look like.

If you’ve been following our coverage of other Switch 2 leaks, these renders shouldn’t look too surprising. According to the new renders, the console will resemble the original Switch, but it will be bigger, with an 8.4-inch screen. Interestingly, OnLeaks and 91Mobiles report that the screen will “most likely” be an “OLED panel” — previous reports have said the console would have an LCD screen.

Nintendo isn’t officially at CES, but it might have stolen the show anyway: accessory maker Genki brought a 3D-printed mockup of what it says is Nintendo’s Switch successor, and we got to hold it and take some high-resolution pictures.

Based on the mockup of what we’ll call the Switch 2, Nintendo’s next console appears to be wider than the original, with slightly larger Joy-Con controllers that seem like they’ll be more comfortable to hold. Compared to a Steam Deck OLED, the Switch 2 mockup still feels noticeably smaller, in part because the Joy-Cons are not as pronounced and ergonomic as the Deck’s grips. But the mockup still feels closer in size to Valve’s handheld than the original Switch.