Nintendo Officially Announces Switch 2

After weeks of leaks and wild speculation, Nintendo has finally announced the Switch 2, the highly anticipated successor to its wildly popular hybrid handheld console. The gamemaker released a two-minute teaser today with a first look at the console, a handheld that appears very similar to the original Switch but bigger.

Nintendo also announced on Thursday that it will be holding a Direct presentation to provide more details on the Switch on April 2. In the video announcement, Nintendo debuted a larger screen with a pair of black and pink and black and blue Joy-Cons. The video also appears to tease a new Mario Kart game with footage shown for just a few seconds.

The handheld will play both Switch 2 and Switch games, Nintendo said in a press release, but added that “certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.”

The original Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, at a time when Nintendo was still recovering from poor sales of its previous console, the Wii U. Where the Wii U failed to find an audience, however, the Switch soared. In 2023, it became the third best-selling console of all time behind Nintendo’s DS and the PlayStation 2, a position it still holds.

By 2024, however, it appeared the console had peaked. Sales were plummeting, and already rumors were spreading of a next-gen entry. Nearly a year ago, when Nintendo announced Pokémon Legends: Z-A would be coming to its “systems” in 2025, fans speculated that a new console was on the horizon. (Never mind that the plural “systems” here could have just referred to Switch’s Lite and OLED models.)

In May of last year, the company promised it would reveal a new console by April 2025. Last month, details and alleged photos of the device leaked from manufacturers, and later on platforms like Reddit and X.

Nintendo diehards, at least, have been having fun with the leaks—whether it’s using Tarot card readings to divine the announcement date, or making spoofs about features like “imported Italian air” or screws. “It has 10 grooves. So reveal January 10th,” one Reddit user joked. Another constructed a “summoning circle” full of old games and Mario and Luigi figurines.

The next-generation Switch will be released into a much different console ecosystem than its predecessor. In 2022, Steam released its handheld Steam Deck, which allows players to take more PC games on the go. During CES this year, Microsoft’s “next generation” VP, Jason Ronald, hinted to The Verge that there would be updates this year to the Windows gaming experience. Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer has also alluded to the possibility of a handheld Xbox device.