Not only did Nintendo give us a first look at the console by posting a short teaser video, but it also announced the date of the Nintendo Direct where the Japanese company will be revealing more about the Switch 2. The Direct will be followed by two months of ‘Experience’ events during which Nintendo will be giving fans an early opportunity to get hands-on with the console in major cities across four continents.

The Switch 2 will be the first proper successor to the original Nintendo Switch which landed in stores all the way back in 2017. We’ve seen a couple of smaller releases throughout the past eight years, from the handheld-only Switch Lite to the bigger and brighter Switch OLED. There was even talk of a Switch Pro at one point but this never came to fruition, with reports suggesting Nintendo cancelled plans for a mid-generation update in favour of focusing on its big next-gen release.

Keep reading to discover everything we know so far about the Nintendo Switch 2, including all the latest news surrounding the price, release date, features and games. You can also scroll down further if you’re interested in what the latest leaks and rumors have to say about all the aspects that have yet to be announced. 

We’d also recommend checking out our guide to the Nintendo Switch 2 vs Nintendo Switch based on what we know so far, or, for more on the current Switch line-up, visit our guides to the Nintendo Switch vs Switch Lite, Nintendo Switch OLED vs Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch OLED vs Nintendo Switch Lite. We’ve also ranked some of our favourite consoles and games in our best lists, including the best Nintendo Switch console, best Switch games and best game consoles.

Updated on February 28th more leaks surrounding the release date and dock.

The Nintendo Switch 2 launch date hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. However, we do know that Nintendo will reveal all during a Nintendo Direct presentation on April 2 at 6am PST / 9am EST / 2pm GMT.

Rumors suggest the actual launch date of the console could be May 9, 2025, after Finnish retailer Konsolinet listed the console as available from then. This also coincides with the Experience events Nintendo are planning for May, which you can read more about below.

More recently, someone called Sean claiming to be a former sales lead for Nintendo hopped on the Kit & Krysta podcast (via Tom’s Guide). According to him, Nintendo should release the Switch 2 in mid-June, giving kids an opportunity to get excited with their classmates before the school year is up. 

Sean also seemingly shut down the May leak, stating that retailers won’t know the specific launch date until the general public does or a week or two in advance.

The Nintendo Switch 2 was announced on January 16 2025, following months of rumors and speculation regarding the console’s release date. We’ve shared all we know below, but we’ll have to wait until the Nintendo Direct to hear the rest.

Nintendo has yet to confirm an official release date for the Switch 2. The company has scheduled a number of Experience events in cities around the world to give fans a first hands-on look at the new console. These start on April 4 and wrap up on June 1, leading to speculation the Switch 2 could hit shelves during that time.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Experience is an early opportunity to go hands-on with the Switch 2 in your nearest city.

You’ll need a Nintendo Account to attend the event and tickets will be allocated through a free-to-enter random draw. Ticket registration for New York, Los Angeles and Dallas will be open between January 17-26 on Nintendo’s Switch 2 Experience page, so we’d recommend checking back often to ensure you don’t miss out on the chance to register for your city. 

You can find the full list of cities and the dates the Experience events will take place below: 

North America

Europe

Oceania

Asia

• Hong Kong – TBA
• Taipei – TBA

Nintendo has unsurprisingly remained tight-lipped regarding how much the Switch 2 could cost. 

With the original Nintendo Switch priced at £279 / $299 and the Switch Lite costing £199 / $199, we expect a sequel to cost over £300 / $300. That could even push as high as €399 (⁓$411 / £355) if a recent rumor from French retailer Micromania is true (via @Switch2Stock on X). 

Most of what we know about the Switch 2 comes down to what we can see in the official first-look trailer below. 

The Switch 2 is larger than the original Switch and features what appear to be magnetic Joy-Con controllers that snap onto the console, replacing the at-times fiddly sliding mechanism employed by their predecessor. 

The display itself is bigger, though it’s unclear whether Nintendo has opted for an LED or OLED panel. 

The rumors were also correct about the new kickstand, which now takes on a slim U shape, unlike the small rectangular stand on the original Switch or the large one found on the Switch OLED. 

There’s also that mysterious ‘C’ button that led to many a rumor after being spotted on several renders and dummy models in the run-up to the announcement. Nintendo still hasn’t confirmed what this button is for but you can learn more about the fan theories and rumors surrounding the button in the leaks section further down this page.

Nintendo has not officially confirmed whether the Switch 2 will have a 4K resolution. 

The previous consoles had a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels in handheld mode or up to 1080p in TV mode with a refresh rate of 60fps. 

A few of the leaks discussed further down in this guide suggest that the Switch 2 could receive a 4K upgrade, with Nintendo reportedly having asked developers to ensure that games are 4K-ready in docked mode. However, it could be that this was done in anticipation of the seemingly shelved Nintendo Switch Pro that was rumored to be launched in the past.

Nintendo confirmed (not for the first time) in the trailer that the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with Switch games. This means that it will be able to run most physical and digital games popularised on previous Switch consoles. 

That said, Nintendo has warned that certain Switch games may not be supported or fully compatible with the Switch 2, with more details to come regarding that at a later date. This might be referring to games that use accessories designed specifically to fit the smaller Joy-Cons on the older Switch, such as Ring Fit Adventure, though this isn’t something Nintendo has confirmed. 

At the time of writing, the only game that we truly know is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 is a new Mario Kart, presumably titled Mario Kart 9. If you want a full breakdown of titles when you can read our round-up of all the confirmed and rumored Nintendo Switch 2 games.

One of the most interesting new features spotted on renders of the Switch 2 and later confirmed by the first-look trailer is the mysterious ‘C’ button positioned on the right Joy-Con directly below the Home button. While a few possibilities regarding the camera, screen captures and casting have been suggested, a recent leak suggests that the C button could be used to access a new in-console chat function. 

According to members of a Discord server titled Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s latest firmware update includes references to a feature named ‘Campus’. This feature is expected to offer voice chat and screen-sharing support for groups of up to 12, reported GameRant. 

Another rumor linked back to Switch dataminer and leaker ZachyCatGames on the Famiboards forums suggests that the Switch 2’s portable GPU clock speeds could surpass 560 MHz, potentially outperforming the Steam Deck in this regard quite significantly (via TGP). 

A previous report from Reuters hinted that the GPU will be powered by a new Nvidia custom-design processor, meaning it could feature a new CPU along with this powerful GPU. We wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo and Nvidia collaborated on this launch as the original Switch was also powered by an Nvidia processor. 

It’s long been anticipated that the next interaction of the Nintendo Switch will support a 4K resolution. Bloomberg has also reported that the future console will support Nvidia’s DLSS technology. Put simply, DLSS uses artificial intelligence and clever upscaling technology to boost the frame rate of a game without impacting the visual quality. DLSS is currently used by Nvidia’s high-end graphics cards like the RTX 4000 and RTX 3000 series and has been well received by gamers.

DLSS would make sense on a console like the Switch as it could help to make up for the limited hardware and boost the frame rate high enough to make 4K gaming possible. 

Taking a closer look at the 4K rumors, Bloomberg alleged that the company is asking developers to make new Nintendo Switch games 4K ready in docked mode. Bloomberg also claims that up to 11 game studios have had access to an official development kit that featured 4K support. Although it’s possible that this was for the previously rumored Nintendo Switch Pro, a console that was seemingly shelved in favour of the Nintendo Switch OLED.

This means it’s difficult to know whether these scrapped plans will be re-used for the eventual successor of the Nintendo Switch. It’s entirely possible that Nintendo decides to go in a different direction altogether.

VGC reports that the Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracing, allowing it to generate realistic lighting effects, which the PS5 and Xbox Series X are capable of.

Nintendo has also filed for a patent on new Hall Effect-style joysticks, which could possibly eradicate the existing Joy-Con drift issue on current Switch consoles. This is because the joystick’s physical mechanisms would move to a magnet-based system, removing the chance of erosion over extended periods of time.

VGC reports that Nintendo could boost the storage for the Switch 2 in order to keep up with the inflating sizes of modern games, and will likely retain the cartridge slot in order for it to continue running physical games. We now know the latter to be true with the trailer confirming the console with continue to support physical games from the earlier generation Switch.

While the Switch 2 may support a higher 4K resolution, VGC suggests that Nintendo will stick with an LCD screen rather than an OLED. This would be done to keep costs low, though we suspect an OLED iteration could launch later down the line as the Switch OLED did in 2021, four years after the original Switch.

One aspect we hadn’t heard many whispers about was the dock. However, new renders of the dock were shared Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu (aka RedNote) in February by a user who had reportedly gotten their hands on a CAD model last year.

This leak highlights specific changes that could be on the Switch 2 dock, including what appears to be a grid on the base of the dock, suggesting a change to the cooling system (via wccftech).

Las Vegas tech trade show CES made headlines among Nintendo fans earlier this January when seemingly accurate-looking dummy models of the Switch 2 made the rounds on the showroom floor.

French website Numerama went hands-on with one of these models brought to the show by accessory maker Genki. According to the company, the model – which featured working magnetic Joy-Cons – is based on its own access to a genuine Switch 2 model.