The Nintendo Switch has now been in circulation for well over seven years, and its mysterious successor is due to arrive sometime soon.
The seven-year gap between versions of the beloved gaming console has taken a crown previously held by the NES, and Nintendo’s lack of clarity around when a Switch 2 will arrive has only heightened the speculation.
In June 2024, Nintendo held a livestream event in which executives declared they would not mention the release date for a second generation console, though they did outline a schedule of new gaming titles for the remainder of the year.
Amid all of the speculation, it’s only natural for gamers to wonder when, or even if, a Nintendo Switch 2 is on the horizon.
What do we know about a Switch 2?
The first version of Nintendo Switch was released in 2017, and all available information, especially about the product’s life cycle, seems to suggest that a successor will soon arrive. Some have suggested Switch 2 will be available early next year, while others have indicated a potential May 2025 release date.
Nintendo might not be too fussed about hurrying a Switch 2, since sales of the first-generation console have remained consistent; though they are beginning to taper. Based on the gaming company’s history with its hugely successful hardware, a new version will come eventually, as shown by the second-generation versions hardware like the Wii and Nintendo DS.
While they’ve stopped short of mentioning a Switch 2, Nintendo did recently announce a new Switch console accessory dubbed the Joy-Con Charging Stand. While the easiest way for gamers to charge their controllers since the Switch’s release was to simply dock them on the console, the Joy-Con offers an alternative in which the charging station is separate from the console itself.
Some have taken this new accessory as an indication of what might await us with a Switch 2. Reports have suggested that the second generation console will require a different method of charging controllers rather than docking them, so it makes sense for Nintendo to offer a Joy-Con station removed from the console itself.
In any case, the release of a new charging station some seven years into the Switch’s life seems to indicate that at least something is brewing, we just don’t know what, or when, yet that something will materialize. In the meantime, at least we’ve still got a lot of great Switch games on the horizon.
