Over seven years ago, the Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, 2017. Consoles usually don’t see support for as long as the Switch has, but Nintendo has continued to do so likely due to the massive success of the system. Indeed, the Nintendo Switch hybrid has sold over 143.42 million worldwide, marking it as the third best-selling gaming peripheral after the Nintendo DS handheld (over 154.02 million) and PlayStation 2 console (over 155 million).
It’s been a long wait, but Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa outright confirmed that the Switch successor would be announced within this fiscal year, directly referencing the rumored console for the first time. This means that the “Switch 2” (as dubbed by fans) would have to be announced before April 1, 2025.
However, there have been some recent developments that seem to be suggesting that the Switch 2 could be announced as soon as this week. Needless to say, fans have been watching Nintendo’s Twitter very closely for any hints of this actually happening.
Nash Weedle, the insider who actually originally leaked the existence of Metroid Dread 16 days before it was announced, is now apparently claiming that a port of Elden Ring for the Switch 2 is being worked on as a “Definitive Edition” for the game. It’s supposedly being developed by Virtuos in preparation for a release before the end of 2025.
Leak Express: se está desarrollando un port de ELDEN RING para SWITCH 2, que recibirá el juego en una “Edición Definitiva”.
Parece que podría ser Virtuos la responsable de dicho port y que llegaría para finales de 2025.#EldenRing #Switch2 pic.twitter.com/JJ3RDsxOrU
— Nash Weedle (@NWeedle) October 27, 2024
It’s also notable that Pyoro, a leaker from the past that was often referred to as the “most accurate Nintendo leaker” before he accidentally ousted his source, has also seemingly resurfaced. Pyoro has now changed his username to an emoji of eyeballs with his profile picture to the newly announced Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo.
The emoji seems to be particularly relevant as it feels like a direct reference to the end portion of the Yooka-Replaylee trailer that recently aired. It was announced to be coming to the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and “Nintendo.” Notably, the generic Nintendo logo was highlighted by some cartoonish eyes that seemingly resembled those of Cappy’s from Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch.
“Yes! Yooka-Replaylee will be playable on PS5, Xbox Series consoles and… Nintendo?” declared an interesting segment of the Yooka-Replaylee official website. “Ooh mysterious. We’ll have more on that as soon as poss!”
Needless to say, it felt fairly obvious that the Yooka-Replaylee team was hinting that this is the first game being officially announced for the Switch 2, before the Switch 2 has even been showcased. This would also mean that the developers needed direct permission from Nintendo to highlight the console in this way.
Earlier this morning, many fans were paying special attention to Nintendo’s Twitter specifically at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET. Around that time, we received a big announcement. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, based on Xenoblade Chronicles X which was exclusively on the Wii U, is coming to the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2025.
When asked directly what Pyoro was hinting at with the changes to his profile, he noted that Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition was what he was hinting at. Additionally, he vaguely commented that “there’s a little more” to be revealed.
Though many fans were anticipating an announcement regarding the Switch 2 this morning, it didn’t happen. Of course, there are still signs suggesting that this sort of announcement could happen on Wednesday or even Thursday.
Over on the Nintendo website, Nintendo’s next “Six Months Earnings Release” investors meeting is scheduled to take place on November 5, 2025 — next Tuesday. Needless to say, it would make sense for Nintendo to make a big announcement before that date to impress investors.
However, this announcement likely won’t happen on Monday (for the United States) as November 3, 2025 (for Japan) is “Bunka no Hi” (Culture Day), a national holiday for Japan.
Additionally, Masahiro Sakurai recently noted that he’s been working on a secret game project since April 2022 while managing his YouTube channel. He obviously didn’t say much about it, but he did claim that “it should be announced sooner or later.”
As of right now, we don’t even know if Sakurai’s upcoming game is being developed for Nintendo, but that does seem like the most likely possibility. If this is indeed the case, then Nintendo would’ve had to give permission to Sakurai to make these sort of statements.
Regardless, Sakurai now appears to be solely focused on whatever this new game project is now that his YouTube channel has been officially wrapped up. At this point, it seems that it’s been in development for around the same time as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but it hasn’t even been announced yet.
Based on the timeline of events, it’s beginning to look like Sakurai’s new game could be a launch title for the Switch 2. Could it be the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series?
Ultimately though, we just have to keep waiting for official word from Nintendo about details regarding this mysterious Switch successor. Here’s hoping that there actually are announcements scheduled for this week, but there are currently only rumors and circumstantial evidence backing this speculation.
Do you think we’re getting a big reveal this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.