It’s finally here. After months of rumors, Nintendo has officially announced the Switch 2, and perhaps the biggest surprise is how unsurprising it is.
I’m not just speaking about the leaks, which have proven to be largely accurate. As previously reported, the Switch 2 looks very much like the first Switch. It’s bigger and the Joy-Cons now attach magnetically, but the form factor, function, and usability remain largely unchanged from the first Switch.
As a sequel to Nintendo’s most popular console of all time, the company opted to offer a bigger, more powerful version of the system millions of people already own. And this, I think, is for the best. It might not have a gimmick, but maybe, for the first time in a long while, there doesn’t need to be one. The increase in power alone allows Nintendo to lean even deeper into what made the Switch such a success: games.
Nintendo’s first party output during the Switch era — between Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — has been some of the best in the company’s history. And between the Super Mario Bros. Movie and attractions at Universal Studios, the Nintendo brand is perhaps bigger than it’s ever been. So releasing a system that will help the games shine even brighter is perhaps the best thing Nintendo can do right now.
In the past, Nintendo’s hardware updates were defined by some kind of new, usually quirky feature or hook. The Wii’s motion controls, the DS’s double screen, the 3DS’ glasses-free 3D, the Wii U’s tablet, and the Switch’s hybrid nature. Even unpopular consoles like the Virtual Boy still offered a unique spin on hardware.
The whimsy and fun of each new piece of Nintendo hardware usually makes up for the lack of power compared to PlayStation or Xbox; well, that and the Nintendo first-party exclusives. And for the Nintendo Switch, the big hook of the system — the ability to play console games on the go, or on the TV — combined with some of the best Zelda and Mario games ever released on a Nintendo console were enough to propel the Nintendo Switch to record sales, becoming the second-best selling console of all time behind the Nintendo DS. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
But here’s the thing. There was something about the Switch that needed a fix. One glaring issue seemingly fixed by the Switch 2: The horsepower.
Even when the first Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, many noted that while the ability to play console games on the go or on the TV was a game-changer, it was still notably under-powered compared to its contemporaries, the PS4 and Xbox One. There were miracles, for sure, like getting games like Doom Eternal to run on the Switch, but as the years went on, the Switch fell further and further behind.
As console makers like Sony and Microsoft introduced aggressive mid-cycle refreshes like the PS4 Pro and Xbox Series X, many thought Nintendo would introduce a Nintendo Switch Pro . Instead, Nintendo opted for improvements to the form factor (Nintendo Switch Lite) and the screen (Nintendo Switch OLED). The improvements to the GPU would be reserved, it seems, for the Switch 2.
The mission statement is clear: This is a better, more powerful Switch. If you own a Switch and it’s (almost) everything you’ve ever wanted from a console, you’re going to love the Switch 2. If you were waiting for a more powerful Switch, here it is. It’s a system that does virtually nothing to alienate anybody that remotely enjoys the current Nintendo Switch experience.
Even its backward compatibility seems geared to get as many Switch owners as possible to upgrade. With a few exceptions, it sounds like most Switch games you already own will be playable on the Switch 2. And while we have no further information on it, the more powerful hardware will likely offer some benefits to older games.
There have been a few folks online who lament this “true sequel” nature of the Switch 2. For them, the 3D, or motion controls, or whatever new idea comes packaged in a new Nintendo hardware release is the big appeal, a sentiment with which I agree somewhat. I still play my 3DS to this day and the glasses-free 3D effects continue to put a smile on my face.
But if Nintendo faces a choice between innovating with yet another new hardware model, or improving its existing one, the answer is clear. The Switch has obvious technical shortcomings that the Switch 2 plainly addresses, meanwhile experimental tech in 2025 seems to have hit a wall as seen by the stagnant AR and VR hardware space. Something Nintendo briefly experimented with themselves with Nintendo Labo to mixed results.
On the graphics-side, even new consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X aren’t selling their vision of the future. Sure, ray-tracing is nice, and the faster SSDs mean load times are virtually a thing of the past, but 4K graphics haven’t materially improved the gameplay experience for many people, especially since the research shows many gamers are still mostly playing games from the mid-2010s.
Nintendo is an exception to this. While the Switch 2 likely won’t hit 4K graphics, as the company’s consoles typically fall about two generations behind the competition, there’s still headroom to make up. The Switch 2 will not be as powerful as the PS5, not by a longshot, but closing the gap is an important step both for allowing further innovation and evolution for Nintendo first-party games, and ensuring the Switch 2 is considered a worthwhile destination by third-party developers and publishers.
If the Switch 2 is able to be on par with or even a bit better than the Steam Deck, for example, then it’ll theoretically be able to run games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which was just recently verified for Steam Deck. That is a current-gen game that we could potentially see on the Switch 2, raising its value proposition for potentially millions of more gamers than just those who already own and enjoy their Nintendo Switch.
Ultimately, the big new hook of the Switch 2 is that for the first time since maybe the Super Nintendo, the company has decided the best course of action to maintain its level of creativity is to play it safe and simply just release a more powerful console.
Even the name is a statement of intent. Whereas the Wii U confusingly tried to advertise itself as both a successor to the Wii (with its old features like motion controls) and something brand new (its tablet-like controller), the Switch 2 is straightforward. This is the next Switch, the better one, the one you should upgrade to the same way you want to upgrade to the next iPhone.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.
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