Nintendo Switch 2 leaks, rumors and speculation have been rampant over the last few months, but it’s looking like we could get our first official announcement today (January 16). This comes from sources such as The Verge’s Tom Warren, who teased a potential reveal this week.
In terms of concrete information from Nintendo itself, there is precious little. However, we do know that the console is to be revealed before the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year, as stated by company president Shuntaro Furukawa. That gives us a hard deadline of March 31, 2025. There’s still every chance Nintendo could play the waiting game a bit further, but signs are pointing to a debut announcement today.
As it stands, all unofficial information on Nintendo Switch 2 should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. That includes renders from accessory maker Genki at CES 2025, as well as the apparent logo for the console which leaked a few days prior.
In the run-up to any potential announcement today, we’re bringing you all the latest Nintendo Switch 2 coverage. This will include official information from Nintendo itself, as well as the most prominent points of speculation and our own predictions and wishes.
What we know so far
In terms of official Nintendo Switch 2 information, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about. However, as mentioned in the intro, we do know that Nintendo “will make an announcement about the successor to [the] Nintendo Switch within the fiscal year” as per company president Shuntaro Furukawa.
Also confirmed by Nintendo is that the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with original Switch games. Furukawa stated: “at today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch.”
Furukawa then added that the Nintendo Switch Online “will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well,” so it’s reasonable to expect your Nintendo account will also carry over to the new console.
What time should we expect?
We’re expecting the Nintendo Switch 2 to be revealed at some point today, but what time should you get ready for? Although there’s obviously no word on an official reveal window, we can make an educated guess as to when it might be.
A lot of it depends on the current time in Japan, which is 9 hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC). At the time of writing it’s almost 8PM, so we might even see some news in the next few hours before Japanese Nintendo fans head to bed.
That said, we suspect that that the reveal will be a bit later than that, potentially even tomorrow morning in Japan. 7AM Japan time would be about 5PM EST in the US, which would allow the news to reach two large audiences at once. Fingers crossed!
How will Nintendo reveal the Switch 2?
The way in which Nintendo will reveal the Switch 2 remains a mystery even today, as we’ve still heard nothing in regards to what we can expect from that first reveal.
For the original Nintendo Switch console, we got a fairly comprehensive reveal teaser that showed the Switch’s use cases. It demonstrated its docked and handheld mode capabilities while also showing off a number of unannounced titles like Super Mario Odyssey and a port of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. This was shortly followed by a full in-person presentation detailing specs, pricing and game announcements.
If Nintendo doesn’t reveal anything concrete today, then an announcement of an announcement would be the next best thing – perhaps a social media post telling us exactly when a potential reveal will happen. We are still expecting a teaser video, potentially followed by a more in-depth Nintendo Direct presentation for the hardware.
Similarly, we don’t expect Nintendo to just shadow drop a Switch 2 video or presentation. As with any Nintendo Direct, we do anticipate there will at least be some lead-up to the event itself.
