Nintendo Switch 2 Preview: Everything You Need to Know

The Switch is Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all time, and widely beloved for its rich library of games—a dramatic turn from the middling Wii U before it. But it’s been eight years since the Switch launched, and fans are getting antsy for Nintendo’s next big thing.

Luckily, it's coming. Following years of leaks and rumors, and even a couple official acknowledgments that the next-gen model was coming, Nintendo formally revealed the Switch 2 console in January 2025.

From what we know officially and what's been widely reported, the Switch successor will pack in more power than the original while maintaining its winning blend of home console and handheld functionality. Here's everything you need to know.

What is the Nintendo Switch 2?

It's official: Nintendo is making a successor to its wildly popular Switch console. Granted, that's no surprise to anyone that's followed the video game industry for more than a minute. But now we've seen what's coming.

Nintendo shared the first official teaser video below on January 16, 2025, sharing many key details for the Switch 2 while still playing coy on others. We've learned a lot from this video, no doubt, but there's still plenty we want to know.

But this isn't the first time that Nintendo has officially commented. On May 7, 2024, Nintendo's official corporate account tweeted the following statement:

"This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. 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."

Even ahead of the May 2024 announcement, Nintendo was clearly planning for what’s next. In response to a fan question in June 2023, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said, “As for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next-generation machine, we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers, while utilizing the Nintendo Account.”

When will the Nintendo Switch 2 come out?

Reports had long pointed to a late 2024 release target, but that didn't happen. Now, with the official trailer launch, all we have is a "2025" release window.

We can make some educated guesses here, however. Nintendo will hold a Direct livestream on April 2, 2025 to presumably share much more about the console, and then hold hands-on events in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas throughout the rest of the month, with the last announced event ending on April 27.

So we doubt the Switch 2 will be available to own before then. Perhaps a May or June drop makes sense, then, but we probably won't know for sure until that Direct livestream in April.

Any in-demand console launch is inevitably plagued by shortages, but Nintendo's president says the company is already thinking ahead to how to minimize the impact the next time around.

In an investor-centric Q&A from June 2024 translated from Japanese by IGN, Shuntaro Furukawa said that Nintendo is thinking ahead to supply issues and looking into how local laws and regulations could help stymie the resale market that many consoles get snapped up and sold into at inflated prices. Furthermore, the firm doesn't anticipate significant component shortages that could slow console manufacturing.

“Although we were unable to produce sufficient quantities of Nintendo Switch hardware last year and the year before due to a shortage of semiconductor components, this situation has now been resolved," he said. "At this time, we do not believe that the shortage of components will have a significant impact on the production of the successor model."

How much will the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?

Officially, we don't know yet: Nintendo hasn't said anything on this front. But there's been plenty of speculation.

The original Switch launched for $300 in 2017, with the purely handheld Switch Lite rolling out for $200 in 2019. With some premium enhancements (including a larger, bolder screen), the Nintendo Switch OLED model shipped for $350 in 2021.

In October 2023, a leaker—who WCCF Tech said has previously shared reliable information—claimed that the price point for the Switch 2 will be $449 for the base model and $400 for a version that is fully digital without cartridge support. The official Switch 2 trailer did not showcase or point to any fully digital model, however, so that may not actually be in the works.

The Switch 2 will launch into an increasingly competitive handheld landscape that includes many PC gaming devices. Valve's popular Steam Deck, for example, starts at $399 for the base model with an LCD screen, while more robust models with OLED panels start at $549.

What will the Nintendo Switch 2 look like?

After a whole ton of speculation, much of which was right on-target, we can finally say: The Switch 2 looks like a bigger Switch, mostly.

Nintendo thankfully isn't ditching the Switch's smash-success hybrid design, delivering a handheld that can easily be docked for TV use. At its core, the Switch 2 doesn't change too much. But there are some notable tweaks and upgrades we're seeing from the trailer and official imagery so far.

First off, the screen and Joy-Con attachment controllers are definitely larger. If we had to guess on screen size, we'd estimate somewhere around 7-8 inches, compared to 6.2 inches on the normal Switch. But Nintendo has yet to release official specs.

Nintendo Switch 2. Image: Nintendo

The model shown in the first trailer ditches the bold red and blue Joy-Con designs of the original launch model, instead going for a sleek black or perhaps dark gray scheme with red and blue accents under the analog sticks and in the connective tissue between the console (screen) unit and controllers.

Instead of having these Joy-Con controllers slide into place, they'll plug in via an adapter port and be held in place with what appear to be magnets. There had been significant speculation that the Switch 2 will use electromagnets to keep the controllers in place. We can also see from the trailer that there's a new release button on the back of each Joy-Con that triggers a small plunger to disconnect them from the unit.

Nintendo Switch 2. Image: Nintendo

Furthermore, there appears to be a new sensor on the Switch 2 Joy-cons that lets them be used like a computer mouse on a flat surface, once plugged into the wrist strap attachments. This appears to confirm speculation regarding mouse-like functionality, enabling more advanced control schemes for games like shooters, strategy sims, and maybe even creative apps.

Nintendo even has the Joy-Cons scurrying around like little techie mice in the trailer. But the right Joy-Con appears to ditch the infrared camera found on the original model, which was barely used by many games anyway.

Nintendo Switch 2. Image: Nintendo

Other interesting details from the trailer: The new kickstand is much larger and hopefully sturdier than that of the original Switch, allowing for more freestanding positions. Also, there are now two USB-C ports—one on top and one on the bottom. Is the extra one meant to enable potentially new accessories?

And we know that the Switch 2 will continue to use the same physical cartridges from the Switch—yes, enabling backwards compatability—along with downloadable games.

How powerful will the Nintendo Switch 2 be?

Nintendo hasn't shared official specs yet, and the one game from the trailer didn't give a great sense of a visual upgrade. But we certainly expect a notable step up from what the original Switch could handle.

Reports suggest that Nintendo will not try to compete with the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X as the standard-bearers for home consoles and instead deliver a gaming experience with a bit less fidelity. That's been the standard Nintendo approach for a few generations now. Even so, it sounds like a significant improvement over the Switch.

In September 2023, leaked documents from major game publisher Activision showed that the company had evaluated the hardware in late 2022, ultimately surmising that the Switch successor will have similar power to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One hardware.

While those are 10-year-old home consoles, it still would be a notable step up from what the original Switch can handle. The Switch’s hybrid home-plus-handheld model also means that Nintendo has to keep in mind a slim form factor and battery life expectations, so it’s unlikely that we’d even see a Switch-like device with top-end internals at a reasonable price.

Eurogamer reported that Nintendo showed off private tech demos for the Switch 2 to developers at the Gamescom conference in August 2023, and that it used an upgraded version of 2017’s hit The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a demonstration of the new hardware’s capabilities.

VGC supported that report and added that Nintendo also used Epic Games’ The Matrix Awakens tech demo for Unreal Engine 5, with capabilities like ray tracing (realistic lighting effects) and AI-driven visual upscaling tricks enabled. Another rumor points to the use of "ray reconstruction," a less hardware-intensive way of delivering ray tracing effects with the help of AI, via Nvidia's DLSS 3.5 tech.

All told, this may point to hardware that is actually more capable than the PS4 or Xbox One, even if it doesn’t quite match the benchmarks of the current-gen PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. It could be relatively well equipped in terms of RAM, however, with noted leaker Felipe Lima suggesting that the device with have 12GB onboard—that's more than the Xbox Series S console at 10GB.

A February 2024 report from Reuters cites a source claiming that the Switch 2 will use a custom Nvidia chip, much like the original Switch hardware did.

According to a January 2024 report from Bloomberg, Omdia analyst Hiroshi Hayase says that Nintendo has picked a sizable 8-inch display for the Switch 2, and the display will use LCD tech as other reports have previously noted. Nintendo declined comment. The current Switch OLED model has a 7-inch screen, so this would be larger than any original Switch device.

Mobapad also points to an 8-inch display, which it says it be upgraded from 720p HD resolution on the original Switch to 1080p Full HD resolution on the successor.

What games will the Nintendo Switch 2 have?

We know one for sure: a new Mario Kart, revealed in the Switch 2 trailer. We don't have an official name yet; Mario Kart 9 would make sense based on the series' mainline entries, though earlier rumors pointed to a name of Mario Kart X to account for the mobile game Mario Kart Tour launching since Mario Kart 8 on Wii U (and later Switch).

Whatever the final name, the new Mario Kart looks much like what we've come to expect from the series, though the brief tease appears to show 24 starting spots on the track—so there may be way more racers than usual.

You can bet that we’ll see Nintendo’s tried-and-true franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and many others in the mix before long, though Nintendo hasn't shown anything else besides Mario Kart just yet. Previous rumors have pointed to games like a new Donkey Kong or Ubisoft's next as-yet-unannounced Far Cry sequel, but those remain unconfirmed for now.

After Rockstar Games' official reveal of Grand Theft Auto 6, which is currently announced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, it begs the question: Will it come to Switch 2, too? And perhaps more pressingly, will the Switch 2 be powerful enough to run it?

There's no official word for now, of course, and there wouldn't be until Nintendo actually reveals its next console. But in the meantime, the technical experts at Digital Foundry are dubious that the Switch 2 will have enough power to handle Rockstar's next big game—at least based on the leaks so far.

"I’d love to say it would happen. I don’t think it will, realistically," said Digital Foundry founder Richard Leadbetter in a YouTube video (via IGN). "It’s a mobile chipset. We’ve seen a lot of amazing things on the Switch 1. Switch 2 is going to be a lot better, a proper generational leap, and forward-looking in many ways. But the stuff they seem to be rolling out for GTA 6 is possibly beyond that."

"It seems a step beyond," he added, "and out of character with what we know about Rockstar’s M.O."

Will it play original Switch games?

Yes! Nintendo tweeted on November 5, 2024 that the "successor to the Nintendo Switch" will also be able to play original Switch software. This had been rumored and reported previously, but the gaming giant cleared up any questions about Switch owners making a graceful transition to the new device. The Switch Online service will also return on Switch 2.

Nintendo repeated the message in the January 2025 trailer, showing that Switch cartridges will fit into the Switch 2, and noting that digital games will also be supported. A physical copy of Super Mario Bros. Wonder was shown in the trailer. However, there was a caveat: Some games may not be supported or work in full.

What does that mean? While we don't know for sure yet, it's likely that some games designed for the size and shape of the original Joy-Cons—like fitness game Ring Fit Adventure, which had players snap their controllers into an accessory shell—simply won't work with the Switch 2 controllers. And the rare few games that used the IR camera on the original right Joy-Con, like 1-2 Switch, similarly will lose functionality on Switch 2 hardware.

The other lingering question about backwards compatibility is whether the Switch games will simply run as-is, or if they will take advantage of the Switch 2's expected performance bump—whether that's an automatic upgrade, or one that developers may need to code and patch in.

A report from Eurogamer in February 2024 suggested that Nintendo will let users play their original Switch games (both physical and digital) in the Switch 2 hardware with enhancements. Developers will reportedly need to update their games to unlock such upgrades, however, which means not every game will necessarily take advantage of the Switch 2's improved power.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on September 19, 2023 and last updated on January 17, 2025.