More details have surfaced on the potential launch timing of the Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s not really too far off from the timeline of previous 2025 rumors. The Nintendo Switch 2 is Nintendo’s long-awaited follow-up to the popular Nintendo Switch lineup. However, Nintendo may not actually call it the Switch 2 once the new console launches. As far back as mid-February, it’s been rumored that the Nintendo Switch 2 was delayed until 2025. Then just over a week later, it was rumored that the launch wouldn’t be happening until at least March of that year.
Now, details are stating that a launch shouldn’t be expected until at least sometime in April of 2025. That’s according to Christ Dring over at GameIndustry.biz. Dring spoke about the potential release date during the MicroCast podcast on August 13. “No developer I’ve spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year. In fact, they’ve been told not to expect it in the [current] financial year. A bunch of people I spoke to hope it’s out in April or May time, still early next year, not late,” Dring said.
VGC initially spotted the details about this potential launch date. TechRadar also notes that Nintendo is in a much better position to launch a new console in an entirely new financial year. The company wasn’t in the same position with the original Switch. It launched at the end of Nintendo’s financial year in 2017. A decision the company could have made due to poor sales of the Wii U.
A 2025 launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 makes sense
A 2025 launch of Nintendo’s new console is certainly confirmed at this point. The company has said that it would be announced before the end of its current financial year. With Nintendo being in a better financial position than it was when the original Switch launched, there’s not a pressing need to launch the follow-up before the end of the financial year to boost revenue and profits.
Nintendo also has no upcoming major first-party games launching before the next financial year. It will no doubt want to hold off on launching a new console until it has a big game to launch alongside it.
What to expect from performance
There haven’t been any confirmed specifics from Nintendo on what the performance will be like for its upcoming console. However, Nintendo has reportedly said it would be comparable to the PS4 and Xbox One. Another recent rumor suggests that it might be similar in performance to the Steam Deck. Which would certainly make it noticeably more powerful than the current Nintendo Switch offerings.