The Nintendo Switch 2 will be available next year, and reports earlier this year suggested the next-generation hybrid console could launch in March 2025. Nintendo also confirmed in May that it would announce a successor to the Switch during the fiscal year ending in March 2025. However, it looks like the company’s next-gen console won’t launch this fiscal year. Game developers have reportedly been told not to expect the Nintendo Switch 2 to be available before April 2025, which would push the device’s release schedule beyond fiscal 2025.
Nintendo Switch 2 expected release schedule
The information comes from a GamesIndustry.biz podcast, which claims that Nintendo’s next console won’t launch this fiscal year.
“When Nintendo released their financial numbers, they said they would announce a successor to the Switch in the next fiscal year. But they didn’t say they were going to release it,” Chris Dring, the publication’s head of gaming B2B, said on the latest episode of the GamesIndustry.biz Microcast. “In previous fiscal years, when they released a new console, they typically said they were going to release a new console,” he added.
Dring also claimed that the game developer does not expect the Nintendo Switch 2 to be released this fiscal year. “None of the developers I’ve spoken to expect it to launch this financial year,” he said. “In fact, they were told not to expect a release this fiscal year. A lot of people I spoke to were hoping it would be released in April, May, early next year, rather than later.”
These claims are consistent with Nintendo’s official update on the Switch successor. In May, the company said it planned to make an announcement about the Nintendo Switch 2 during the fiscal year ending in March 2025. While Nintendo may officially release the Switch 2 before the end of March 2025, the actual release of the console may come later.
Nintendo hasn’t revealed any details about its next-gen console, but it’s likely to retain the Switch’s hybrid form factor and have better hardware specs. The Switch is still going strong since its launch in March 2017, with sales exceeding 140 million units. It is the third best-selling console of all time, behind the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.
Even though the Switch 2 is about to launch, the Japanese company has announced new games for the Nintendo Switch, including a new Legend of Zelda game that will be released later this year. Nintendo expects Switch sales to be 13.5 million units this fiscal year.
