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Nintendo Unveils Bigger Switch 2 System for Launch This Year
posted on by Egan Loo
Nintendo formally unveiled its Switch 2 system with a first-look trailer on Thursday. The trailer indicates a physically larger system (along with a larger kickstand with more adjustable angles) that is slated for later this year.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa had said in November that games for the original Switch system will remain playable on its successor, and today's trailer further states that the new system will play both physical and digital Switch games in addition to Switch 2 exclusive titles. However, the trailer also qualifies that "certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible" on the Switch 2.
Nintendo will provide more details during its “Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 – 4.2.2025” presentation on April 2. It will also hold Nintendo Switch 2 Experience events where Nintendo Account holders who pre-register "can go hands-on" at the following cities:
North America:
- New York, April 4-6, 2025
- Los Angeles, April 11-13, 2025
- Dallas, April 25-27, 2025
- Toronto, April 25-27, 2025
Europe:
- Paris, April 4-6, 2025
- London, April 11-13, 2025
- Milan, April 25-27, 2025
- Berlin, April 25-27, 2025
- Madrid, May 9-11, 2025
- Amsterdam, May 9-11, 2025
Oceania:
- Melbourne, May 10-11, 2025
Asia:
- Tokyo (Makuhari), April 26-27, 2025
- Seoul, May 31-June 1, 2025
- Hong Kong, To be announced
- Taipei, To be announced
BNN Bloomberg had reported in January 2024 (before Nintendo teased an announcement by March 2025) that according to Omdia analyst Hiroshi Hayase, Nintendo would launch a new game console last year with an 8-inch LCD screen. Hayase said at the time the new device would be responsible for a doubling in shipments of "amusement displays."
According to Bloomberg, Sharp stated in May 2023 it was supplying LCD panels to and was working closely with a maker of an upcoming console.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) released in January 2024 the results of its 12th annual "State of the Game Industry Survey," which surveyed more than 3,000 game developers about their work and about the industry. In the survey 8% of developers stated they are developing for the successor to the Nintendo Switch, and 32% said the successor is the platform that mosts interests them right now.
Nintendo launched the Switch console in March 2017, and has sold 141.32 million units as of May 7 of last year.
The Switch surpassed Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Game Boy/Game Boy Color as the third best-selling console of all time as of the end of 2022. It now stands behind only the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.
Sources: Press release
