Countless Nintendo Switch 2 rumors have circulated over the past couple of years, but none had nailed down the new console’s launch date yet. A few hours ago, the Italian website UAGNA shared the rumor that Nintendo Switch 2 accessories (first-party as well as third-party ones) will launch on the market on March 28. As such, they believe this to be the release date for the console, too.
To begin with, we must take this with a big grain of salt. That said, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility. In fact, last month, another rumor pointed to a January reveal and a subsequent late March debut for the console. Just a few days ago, we learned that the date for the announcement could be January 8, 2025.
It would be an accelerated timetable compared to the predecessor. The Switch launched on March 3, 2017, but it was first showcased by Nintendo on October 20, 2016. The console was then briefly demonstrated in December at Jimmy Fallon’s show, while a proper press event, including the final release date, took place in January. If these rumors are true, Nintendo might be compressing everything into the January unveiling.
The console’s specifications have long been shared by leaks and are unlikely to have changed since. Nintendo has once again partnered with NVIDIA, choosing their Tegra 239 SoC, which is a customized version of the Orin SoC originally announced in 2018. It will be powered by an eight-core CPU with 12x ARM Cortex-A78AE cores and a GPU based on the Ampere architecture featuring 2048 CUDA Cores. Support for NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction is believed to be included.
However, it seems that the Nintendo Switch 2 will only output at 4K resolution and 30 frames per second when docked. If confirmed, this would undoubtedly be disappointing for a new console that debuts in 2025—rival consoles from Sony and Microsoft have supported not only 60 frames per second but now even up to 120 frames per second for years.
So far, analysts are bullish on the new hardware’s sales prospects, believing that the new platform could sell 80 million units by 2028. Of course, a lot will depend on the games. The long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 could be a cross-platform launch like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the Switch, but the new hardware (despite the confirmed backward compatibility) will need some brand new titles to really gain traction.
