Game Devs Reportedly Share Disappointing Update On Nintendo Switch 2 Launch
Back in May, Nintendo spilled the beans on its Switch 2 launch plans, saying a "successor" to its wildly popular handheld game console would arrive "within this fiscal year." Nintendo's fiscal year runs through March 2025, so any time before or by then is fair game, right? Maybe not. Game developers are seemingly under the impression that a Switch 2 console will miss Nintendo's public launch target.
That revelation came during the latest GamesIndustry.biz Microcast, in which the site's head of games, Christopher Dring, passed along what he's been hearing from game devs.
"No developer I've spoken to expects it to be launching this financial year. In fact, they've been told not to expect it in the [current] financial year. A bunch of people I spoke to hope it's out in April or May time, still early next year, not late," Dring said.
While disappointing for anyone hoping for a Switch 2 release that will come sooner than later, the purported game developer chatter doesn't necessarily contradict Nintendo's messaging from earlier this year. Nintendo could still very well announce a Switch 2 console by the end of its current fiscal year, and actually launch or release it sometime after March 31, 2025.
"I don't think any of us wants a late launch for Switch 2 because we all want a new Nintendo console, everyone gets very excited for it, and we don't want that crunch of Grand Theft Auto 6 and Switch and all that kind of stuff on top of each other," Dring added.
Be that as it may, an early 2025 launch now seems far less likely, with a first half release being the best that Switch fans can hope for, if what Dring is hearing is accurate of Nintendo's roadmap.
There's no mention during the podcast of what a Switch 2 might look like, in terms of specifications and overall design. However, a previous leak suggests it will feature 12GB of RAM (2x6GB LPDDR5-7500) and 256GB of built-in UFS 3.1 storage. Both of those would be substantial upgrades over the Switch OLED, which features 4GB of LPDDR4-1600 and 32GB of internal storage.
What's also interesting is that the Switch 2 will enter a handheld landscape that is suddenly more crowded, with the Steam Deck paving the way for more competition, at least on the PC side. Gamers have several options now, including the ASUS ROG Ally and Ally X, Lenovo's Legion Go, and even a Meteor Lake-powered handheld in MSI's Claw, to name a few.
