The Switch 2 Was Quietly Confirmed

It goes almost without saying that many fans of the Nintendo Switch are most excited about a new console being announced rather than another new game. Well, in the most blasé way possible for a console announcement, I think Nintendo takes the reward after last night/early this morning’s tweet. Put quite simply, the Switch 2 has been announced with all the fanfare of the death of a celebrity in their 90s. Which is to say, “Oh!” before feeling a little sad as you drink your morning coffee remembering bits of their movies, TV work, or music.

First tweeting out in Japanese from the @NintendoCoLtd account, later translating so I don’t have to, “This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to [the] Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of [the] Nintendo Switch back in March 2015.” Yes, sure many other consoles last a bit longer, get to the point and do so more excitingly, please.

This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…

— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024

The tweet continues: “We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.” Let me get this straight Furukawa-san, you hadn’t confirmed as much as the Switch 2’s existence until now, and you’re now saying it won’t be shown during your faux E3 Direct? I’d have kept quiet about its existence if I’m honest.

Leaks and rumors have been circling more lately about the Switch 2, which should just be called the Swiitch or Switch U given Nintendo’s naming conventions. Though there have been rumors and mumblings of this hardware successor since 2019 and beyond, we haven’t had confirmation up to this point. We had seen the release of the Switch OLED but unlike PlayStation or Xbox, we haven’t seen a mid-generation hardware update to the performance of the Switch. I guess we have to wait a little bit longer, though “this fiscal year” does end in March 2025. So we don’t have to wait too long.