Nintendo Switch 2 will be officially unveiled during a special Nintendo Direct presentation next week. Since January, Nintendo has kept a tight-lip on any details related to the new platform, but it seems some leaks are starting to take place. According to a report from Insider Gaming, Nintendo Switch 2 will launch sometime in June. That’s not too surprising, as fans have speculated for months that a launch might happen in May or June, since special hands-on experiences will be taking place throughout the month of April. The bigger part of the report reveals Nintendo’s software strategy throughout 2025.
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According to sources Insider Gaming spoke to at this year’s Game Developers Conference, Nintendo is planning a “three-phase strategy” for software. The first phase is the system launch, and the line-up will consist “primarily” of first-party games. In the past, Nintendo has focused on one major first-party game at launch, typically accompanied by a smaller game that takes advantage of the system’s hardware; in the case of Switch, the system launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2-Switch, as well as the digital exclusive Snipperclips. However, there were some third-party games, including Super Bomberman R and Just Dance 2017.
The use of “primarily” seems to imply that we’ll see some third-party games during Nintendo Switch 2’s launch, just not on a major level. Apparently, bigger third-party games are part of the second planned phase. Insider Gaming notes that many third-party developers are waiting on dev kits for the system, and expect to have them in-hand in June. The plan is to have bigger third-party games during that window. This is potentially when we can expect to see rumored games that have skipped releasing on Switch, such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Final Fantasy VII Remake. However, this is just speculation.
The third and final phase of 2025 is the holiday window. No details have been revealed, but we can likely expect to see some kind of big exclusive in this time frame. In the launch year for the original Switch, this is when Nintendo dropped Super Mario Odyssey. There hasn’t been a full 3D Mario game since, and fans have speculated for months that Switch 2 will launch with a new Mario Kart, with a 3D Mario arriving at the end of the year. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did not launch alongside the original Switch, but it did release just a few weeks later.
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At this time, readers should take all of this with a grain of salt. However, it does seem to line up with Pocketpair’s recent comments at GDC; the game’s community manager told IGN that he was trying to find out specs for the new system, but was unable to get any details. That would make sense if dev kits aren’t being sent out for a few more months. With the April 2nd Nintendo Direct just over a week away, we should know a lot more about what to expect in the very near future.
What games are you expecting to see at launch for Nintendo Switch 2? How do you feel about this strategy from Nintendo? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
