Nintendo Switch 2 Preorder Date And Key Upgrades Confirmed By Best Buy
Nintendo is planning to launch its next-gen Switch 2 console on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, the day after April Fools' Day and the same day Nintendo will hold a special Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 event, according to a Best Buy Canada blog post that went live ahead of schedule. Best Buy has taken the blog post down, but not before it could be cached and preserved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
"Nintendo has officially announced the Nintendo Switch 2, its highly anticipated next-generation console, set to launch in 2025. Now, fans won’t have to wait much longer for more details. Nintendo has confirmed a special Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 presentation on April 2, 2025, where the company will provide a closer look at the new system, its features, and upcoming games," the blog post stated in its opening paragraph before it was taken down.
In the very next paragraph, Best Buy Canada confirms it will begin accepting preorders on the same day. It's not clear at precisely what time preorders will open—an important detail, considering the anticipated demand for the Switch's second major act—though it's further stated that the special Direct event will start at 6:00 a.m. PDT (9:00 a.m. EDT).
Based on that, our best guess is we're looking at preorders opening late morning or early afternoon, but obviously we'll have to wait and see. The special Direct event is also where Nintendo share "new details about the console's capabilities, games, features, and what to expect at launch," according to the vanished blog post.
We've already been able to discern some details from Nintendo's previous showcase trailer, which among other things, teased a magnetic Joy-Con attachment design. According to Best Buy, the next-gen Joy-Con controllers will indeed magnetically connect, making them "more secure and streamlined." The blog post also notes that the Switch 2 will play both physical and digital games (no big surprise there).
"A U-shaped kickstand provides improved stability for tabletop play, while an additional USB-C port adds versatility for charging and peripherals. These enhancements, paired with likely stronger hardware, indicate that the new console is built to expand on the Switch’s unique strengths," Best Buy Canada added.
Despite Best Buy Canada's blog post going up early, there are still a lot of details left to be revealed. For example, we're hoping the upcoming Direct event will reveal the console's full hardware specs, along with any special capabilities (such as upscaling and/or ray tracing support). There's also the matter of retail availability—while preorders will open on April 2, it's rumored the Switch 2 won't actually be available until June.
Related, the other thing to keep an eye on is availability in terms of supply versus demand. Just as the latest generation GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA are hard to find in stock, we suspect that initial Switch 2 inventories will sell out as well (the showcase trailer sits at 22 million views and 1 million 'Like' votes). To that end, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa recently stated, "We will take all possible measures based on the experience we have accumulated to date (regarding scalpers and the like). We are making preparations."
It will also be interesting to see where pricing lands. Furukawa offered a vague hint there as well, saying Nintendo will "consider the affordability customers expect." Make of that what you will.
