Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date Leaks Online?
A 4Chan leak reveals that Nintendo may be releasing the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime later this year.
As per our previous report regarding Nintendo’s absence from E3, Nintendo Switch is at the end of its life cycle, and one of the reasons why Nintendo won’t attend the largest gaming convention is that the company doesn’t have anything new to showcase. Well, we might’ve been wrong on that one since the newest leaks reveal the release date of the Nintendo Switch 2 (or at least that’s what we think it’s called) sometime this year.
According to The Nerd Stash, a 4Chan leak reveals the release date for Nintendo Switch 2, and the individuals behind the leaked information are extremely confident in the info’s accuracy. Apparently, the information originated from the report submitted by the UK’s Competition and Market Authority regarding Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. But what does one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the gaming industry have to do with Nintendo and the successor of the world’s best handheld console?
Well, the report stated that Nintendo Switch Online is the only service that could compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and that the service is only available on Nintendo Switch and another product whose name was redacted from the report. And therein lies the potential leak—Nintendo Switch is the only device that can officially access the Nintendo Switch Online service—Steam Deck can also do this, but Nintendo doesn’t approve. The redaction could easily mean the forthcoming console Nintendo might be developing but remains reluctant about formally announcing it.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any known details about the potential Nintendo Switch 2. Some have speculated that we might finally get the previously purported Nintendo Switch Pro, which turned out the be the OLED model. Also, there’s honestly very little point in making the Nintendo Switch Pro model, considering just how outdated the original console is. The recently released Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are a perfect example; many have complained that some of the technical issues present in both games are due to Nintendo Switch’s outdated hardware.
We are discussing a previous-gen console, after all. And if we take the difference between PS4 and PS4 Pro models, making the Nintendo Switch 2 be the Nintendo Switch Pro just to implement a more power-efficient GPU chip and bigger capacity storage wouldn’t really make much of a difference. It would keep Nintendo Switch relevant for another year or two before its hardware spec would become completely obsolete.
Plus, Nintendo has a good thing going on with Nintendo Switch, so why would they ruin it with another update for the console that’s already at the end of its lifecycle? You can only prolong the inevitable for a limited time—everything dies eventually, and consoles aren’t an exception. Then again, Nintendo Switch is so close to becoming the world’s best-selling console that prolonging the inevitable for just a few months might actually make the difference.
Ultimately, we don’t know whether the potential leak found in a legal document actually pertains to Nintendo Switch 2 or some other product or service adjacent to the Nintendo Switch Online service. Please take all the information we presented with a grain of salt; it’s all speculation until Nintendo officially announces the console.
