The question everyone is asking right now is: Switch 2 if– The current handheld hybrid, now in its eighth year of existence, is already showing its age, and there are increasing signs that fans will have to wait a while before Nintendo releases its next console.
“No developer I’ve spoken to expects it to come to market this fiscal year,” said Christopher Dring, head of GameIndustry.biz, in the latest episode of GI Microcast (over VGC). “In fact, they were told not to expect [current] fiscal year. A lot of people I’ve talked to are hoping it will come out in April or May, so early next year, not later.”
This is consistent with prior reporting that while Nintendo had at one point planned to launch the Switch 2 in 2024, it ultimately decided to delay the release of the new hardware until 2025. Nintendo also did not factor in any new hardware in its forecast for the current fiscal year, although the company said that was not necessarily indicative of its future plans, which are constantly changing.
Dring’s report is also the latest indication that a Switch 2 could fall behind the release strategy of the original hardware. The first Switch was unveiled in September 2016 and launched in March of the following year. Fans have hoped that the usual Nintendo Direct in Septemberwhich has not yet been officially announced, would be the time when the company would give its first look at its next console.
But if a Switch 2 doesn’t come out until April or later, it’s still possible that the company will wait until 2025 to reveal the truth, especially since it’s doubling down on its plans, sell another 10 million units of the existing handheld hybrid during the holiday season and beyond. The Switch is already the longest console Nintendo has ever played between two consoles in its historyIt’s sounding more and more like fans will still be playing with the Switch in its ninth year.
