The best-selling handheld console in the last decade has been rumored to have a successor for quite some time now, but Nintendo has been very tight-lipped despite all the speculated details. We have only been relying on leakers so far, and sources say that it might take more time before a next-gen model will be released.
Nintendo Switch 2's Release Date
Initially, it was reportedly that the Nintendo Switch successor would be released in the fall of 2024, and now sources say that the company might push it for the next year, specifically around 2025 in the first quarter of the year.
More than one source has claimed this, which adds weight to the potential speculated release date. This means that the next-generation Nintendo Switch might arrive in the same month as the previous model when it did in March 2017, as reported by The Verge.
As for why the rumored release has been moved to 2025, it might have something to do with the new games that are slated to be released at the schedule as the launch of the Switch 2, although that just comes as a theory the same as the handheld console's details.
Based on theories, the mentioned video game title might be Metroid Prime 4, which has been in development since the year Nintendo's flagship handheld was released. The development was stalled for about two years until it continued by 2019.
The last Metroid game in the franchise was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021 titled Metroid Dread, which is an action-adventure game that follows the story of a bounty hunter, Samus Aran, and serves as a side-scrolling game like the previous Metroid games.
Other Note-Worthy Rumors for the Switch 2
The new rumored release date also aligns with Nintendo's President Shuntaro Furukawa's statement, saying that the company will be supporting the current-generation Nintendo Switch until March 2025.
A new handheld console from Nintendo might be exciting, but fans of the Switch might be disappointed with the rumored specs of the upcoming generation of the unit. Also unconfirmed, sources say that there will be a couple of downgrades for some of the components.
The display for the next-gen handheld might just be an LCD panel, which uses a backlight compared to the OLED that emits its own light. While that might be a bummer for some, it could also mean that the upcoming console would be cheaper in price.
According to Tom's Guide, the Switch 2 might also feature an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 10 SMs, 8 GB RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. It might be an upgrade from the first Nintendo Switch, but it might still lack the power to run heavy AAA games smoothly.
There have been conflicting responses regarding the performance of the Switch with certain games such as Hogwarts Legacy. Some criticized the console for poor performance while others said that despite having specs, the Switch was able to run the game decently.
