Nintendo Switch 2 Arrives on June 5, 2025
Gamers around the world can finally stop holding their breaths, the long-awaited handheld Nintendo Switch 2 has an official release date – June 5, 2025. Nintendo made the announcement during a presentation which also included hardware details, system features, and upcoming games from both Nintendo and its publishing partners.
It’s been eight years since the first Nintendo Switch hit the shelves and to date Nintendo has sold more than 150 million units across the Switch family as of Dec. 31, 2024. It’s the best-selling home console by Nintendo and one of the best-selling consoles of all time.
“Nintendo Switch 2 is the next step in at-home gaming that can be taken on the go based on eight years of play and discovery that began with Nintendo Switch,” said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa. “With its new features that expand the possibilities of gaming experiences, I truly believe that Nintendo Switch 2 is a leap forward in our journey of putting smiles on the faces of everyone that Nintendo touches.”
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An Abundance of New Features And Experiences
Nintendo has significantly beefed up the CPU and GPU performance in Switch 2, which leads to faster processing speed and opens up a new world of possibilities for advanced gameplay. It also achieves more detailed graphics and faster loading times.
The Switch 2 will come with eight times more internal storage with 256 GB as default. Additional storage will be available through microSD Express cards with faster data reading speeds than previous microSD cards.
Connecting the Switch 2 Dock to a TV will allow for gameplay at up to 4K resolution at up to 120 fps, as long as the TV and games are compatible.
The New Joy-Con 2 Controller
Leaks of Nintendo Switch 2’s appearance caused speculations regarding the C button on the right Joy-Con 2 controller, but it’s now been revealed that it’s connected with the system’s built-in mic and can be pressed to voice chat while playing games with up to 12 people in different locations.
The freshly designed Joy-Con 2 controllers attach to the Nintendo Switch 2 magnetically and can act as a mouse in compatible games.
Kouichi Kawamoto, a producer on the Nintendo Switch 2 development team, said the idea of using the controllers as mice came to him when he was playing a PC game.
“Switch 2 was originally designed to support a wider range of games by improving the system’s processing speed, so with that in mind, I thought it’d be better to be able to play interesting games that require a mouse,” he said.
Games on Switch 2 And Backwards Compatibility
As well as offering backwards compatibility to original Switch games, Nintendo is also adding GameCube games to the Nintendo Switch Online service from day one. Plus, the Switch 2 will have a lot of games from the start and a ton of new releases shortly after.
Super Mario Party Jamboree was the first game highlighted in the Direct presentation, and expands on the base game with new and additional modes. One is Mario Party, which lets players use a Switch 2 camera to put themselves in the game.
Bowser Live has players compete against each in rowdy minigames to see who has the most energy; Carnival Coaster uses mouse control to strap characters into a roller coaster, then shoot at enemies as the ride continues.
One of the most anticipated sequels coming to Switch 2 is Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which lets players use the new Joy-Con 2 controllers as a mouse and joypad combo for precision blasting. The game also comes with a Quality setting for 4K, 60fps, HDR gameplay, and Performance for 1080p, 120fps, HDR action.
FromSoftware is a name familiar to most gamers, and the developer is bringing its latest horror opus, The Duskbloods, to Switch 2 in 2026. The multiplayer game features a suitably operatic Gothic atmosphere with grotesque, lumbering enemies and a vampiric player character who can turn into a dinosaur.
