The rumors that Nintendo is gearing up to release a new version of the Switch are ramping up. In a press release from Altec Lansing about the upcoming relaunch of the Game Shark (now the AI Shark), it said “The official launch is planned to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 in September 2024.”
It has since been changed to say “Altec Lansing plans on introducing its new offering in time for the holiday season 2024,” though the original is still visible on the Wayback Machine archive.
When the news was broken by Digital Trends, AI Shark confirmed that “Fall 2024” was the tentative release window, and then backpedaled further to state that “Nintendo has not officially clarified launch.”
Reporter Jason Schrier was told by an AI Shark spokesperson that they were simply guessing at the Switch 2 release date. This is notably different to what AI Shark told DigitalTrends.
FYI: An Ai Shark spokesperson tells me they're just guessing about the next Nintendo console's release date https://t.co/CqPE9oBSDr
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 11, 2024
When is the Switch 2 likely to be released?
September would be a logical time for the Switch 2 release date, coming right before the Christmas shopping period and allowing plenty of time for announced releases on the Switch to drop. Given that the original Switch dropped in March, Christmas shopping might not be top of the inscrutable Nintendo’s list of priorities.
We reported in December on rumors that the Switch 2 would be released early this year. These now seem less likely to hold water, but a quarter-one or early quarter-two announcement from Nintendo seems more plausible. Nintendo was reportedly showing off new hardware at Gamescom 2023 to selected partner developers, but this is also unconfirmed.
As reported by Polygon, in a Nintendo earnings call they stated that their predictions for the current year do not include a new console release. This reaches until March 31.
All we really have for the Switch 2 release date at the moment are a lot of rumors. Nintendo itself has refused to engage with speculation, but the mountain of jigsaw pieces is falling into place, and the sheer number of rumors seems promising. Take the guesses with a grain of salt however as Nintendo has never been a company to conform to expectations.
