As of the time of writing, it’s officially just past the 8-year mark that Nintendo held a special presentation to re-debut the original Switch ahead of its launch. In console years, that was practically a millennia ago. Now, the world eagerly awaits the arrival of its much-anticipated successor, the supposedly-named “Switch 2.” Overrun by excitement and in plain disregard for Nintendo’s plans, the Internet has done what it does best and has outright laughed in the face of corporate secrecy, resulting in a growing pile of leaks.
Personally, I’ve struggled to find a ‘good’ moment to pen this piece, as a new Switch 2 leak has been dropped seemingly every 30 seconds for the past few weeks. The proverbial floodgates have been practically blown away. Yet, Nintendo remains steadfast, rooted in its plans to properly reveal the system in its own time. But, why the stoicism?
The game plan
Like every other corporate entity, Nintendo rolls out new products according to a plan put in place a good while before that product’s existence becomes public knowledge.
So many factors are at play with a product launch, from the creation of marketing material, to ensuring a good number of units are manufactured and distributed to retailers on schedule—it’s all a delicate balancing act.
That said, the Internet is a vast place, yet has arguably become smaller over the years. There are more users than ever before, but communities have become more centralized. This, combined with upgrades made to communication pipelines in modern times, a piece of information can be shared to thousands of screens in a matter of minutes.
Of course, when things are going according to plan, companies can put the modern web’s lightning-fast sharing abilities to good use. But, when news is broken outside official channels, mania then tends to set in as what was supposed to be a surprise is now making the rounds in a relatively unstable fashion.
Scattered details are added and taken away, as information gets cross-referenced, debunked, speculated upon, and, in some cases, “legitimized”—albeit with a degree of skepticism.
In the gaming industry, leaks are a relatively common occurrence. New software gets leaked very frequently, but details surrounding new console hardware is met with particular fanfare due to the gap between releases being so wide.
Again, it’s been just shy of a decade since the original Switch was brought into the limelight, so gamers far and wide have been more than eager to see Nintendo’s next move for quite some time now.
For the last few years, leaks of all sorts have come out surrounding the next Nintendo system. The company finally broke its silence for the first time late last year when it formally confirmed that the “Nintendo Switch successor“, as it refers to the next system, would be revealed before the end of the current fiscal year. That fiscal year culminates on March 31, 2025; a date that’s not too far off from now.
As that deadline has grown nearer, some sectors of the industry have seemingly grown impatient with Nintendo. Consequently, the snowballing of leaks has been expanding in recent weeks.
Going off track
Renegade accessory-makers like the infamous dBrand are high-profile examples of such unauthorized reveals. Back in December, it dropped an obfuscated render of the Switch 2 inside a forthcoming case.
Even more recently, and arguably in even bolder fashion, Chinese manufacturer Genki took to CES 2025 to show off a 3D-printed mockup of the new system, along with some new accessories for it. Genki later mentioned that its mockup was based on leaked information rather than having official schematics. In this particular case, Nintendo reportedly dispatched some personnel, including lawyers, to Genki’s CES booth to address the matter.
Other leaks have come forth by more “traditional” means, involving supposed reveals from anonymous sources. One of the more substantial examples include OnLeaks and 91mobiles teaming up to show off their renders of the new system based on alleged accurate details.
Messy mysteries
These are just a few of the many different stories that have sprouted up in recent weeks. While they all highlight different aspects of the system, the core result is the same: to an extent, it seems objective to conclude that we know what the system looks like.
It’s more-or-less the same tablet-like design as the existing Switch, albeit with a significant increase in screen size and being flanked with new, magnetically-detachable Joy-Cons.
The new right Joy-Con also has a mysterious new button under the returning Share button, which some leaks highlight it as having a “C” on it. The jury is still out as to what this new face button will do, but it does seem to indicate the presence of a new system-level function that doesn’t exist on the current Switch.
For the sake of brevity, let’s not harp on even more alleged leaks. The fact of the matter is, Nintendo has lost some measure of control over the Switch 2 narrative. To those that have been keeping up, the system’s formal reveal is now going to be met with a measure of apathy and indifference, as the ‘wow factor’ has been spoiled, at least to some degree.
Nevertheless, the company still has some key aces up its sleeve.
Just getting started
Even with all the leaks that have come forth, at least as of the time of publication, some pillars of the Switch 2’s attributes remain shrouded in secrecy. From the design and features of the new OS, to the very games that will be a part of its launch lineup—Nintendo has a lot of questions left to answer.
All the company has confirmed up until now is that the new console will make use of the existing Nintendo Account system and be backward-compatible with existing Switch software.
The latter already indicated that the new system would be a direct successor to the existing hybrid console, so the fact that it seems to share such a striking resemblance after all isn’t really much of a surprise, even if the physical nature wasn’t leaked beforehand.
Of course, its release date and launch price are also important bits of information that we still know nothing about. And as it relates to backward-compatibility, will existing games truly benefit from a hardware boost? No prior Nintendo system with direct BC-functionality has enhanced past releases. Perhaps this could be a new avenue that Nintendo explores.
These are all key points that the company will address during and after the system’s formal reveal and will play a major role in how the new system is perceived. While the leaks of the hardware’s appearance have taken a bit of wind out of Nintendo’s sails, it has not at all changed the course, to say nothing of figuratively ‘sinking the ship.’ Really, if there’s anything that could’ve been leaked while meddling with Nintendo’s formal plans the least, it’s exactly just this.
The path ahead
While Nintendo has released a statement that simply deems the leaks as being “unofficial” information, it hasn’t made any greater moves due to the fact that it just doesn’t need to. The end of March is still a ways off, but for a system that’s been in the making for several years, the remaining wait will be a mere blip of time.
Nintendo has no doubt been crafting quite the playbook for the Switch 2. It has found great success with the Switch, which has turned the hybrid sector into a new pillar of the gaming industry. There are so many Switch-adjacent devices that have come out since and even more on the horizon. Yet, not even the venerable Steam Deck has penetrated the mainstream like the Switch has.
The Switch has been Nintendo’s modern-day magnum opus and there’s no doubt it wants to ensure that its legacy will be carried forward as efficiently and gracefully as possible.
It has experienced life on both sides of the coin of capitalism. Especially with the bitter failure of the Wii U from over a decade ago serving as a tough lesson, the Big N knows better than anyone how not to launch a new system. While it remains to be seen exactly how the Switch 2 will pan out, it seems at least somewhat reasonable to believe that Nintendo is poised to take the industry by storm once more.
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The Nintendo Switch almost shouldn’t have succeeded; what next? | Omelet Super Deck for Nintendo Switch review – Handheld hero |
