Switch 2 To Be Launched Before April 2025, Confirms Nintendo

Nintendo has brought some good news for Switch users alongside announcing its end-of-year financials results. The company has confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be launched before April 2025. 

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa noted that a next-gen Nintendo Switch console will hit the markets “within this fiscal year,” giving the gaming giant a deadline of March 31 next year. This timeline seems to fit perfectly with its current Q1 2025 rumored launch. Regarding the launch of Switch 2, Furukawa said:

“We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.”

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Switch Consoles Witness Decline In Sales

Nintendo’s forecast hints at a potential slowdown in the sales of the handheld console, projecting to sell 13.5 million Switch consoles this year in comparison to the 15.7 million units sold in the last fiscal year. The company expects the net profit during the upcoming year to decline by 39%, alongside a projected 19% fall in the overall revenue. 

Switch console sales have gone down significantly since their peak in 2021, while the OLED model - the most recent iteration of the console saw a small 1.1% bump in sales YoY. The number of users for the platform remains healthy though, with the company claiming the 123 million annual players recorded between April 2023 and March 2024 were the “highest seen since Nintendo Switch was launched.”

However, Nintendo hasn’t left hope when it comes to the current-gen Switch consoles. In its forecast, the company said it will “try to not only put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person.”

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Nintendo Switch 2 To Offer Backward Compatibility

As per a new report from a Chinese peripheral manufacturer, the Nintendo Switch 2 will not be a huge overhaul over its predecessors in terms of hardware. It is said to be a conservative hardware revolution.

The console, as per the report, will offer support for both Pro and Joy-Con controllers along with an HD rumble (ALPS dual-axis linear motor). However, the size of the new Joy-Con controller will be smaller than before. 

The current Joy-Con controllers are expected to work fine with the new version, but it won’t be possible to attach them in the handheld mode. That’s due to the new console’s horizontal magnetic docking system, which will only be compatible with the new controllers.