The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released in most regions on June5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, it can be used as a handheld, as a tablet, or connected via the dock to an external display. The Joy-Con 2 controllers can be used while magnetically attached or detached from the console. Compared to the original Switch, the Switch 2 has a larger liquid-crystal display (LCD), more internal storage, and updated graphics, controllers, and social features. It supports 1080p resolution (Full HD) and a 120 Hz refresh rate in handheld or tabletop mode, and 4K resolution with a 60 Hz refresh rate when docked, as well as HDR support on both the tablet and compatible external displays.
Games are available through physical game cards and Nintendo's digital eShop. Some game "key" cards contain no game content and require players to download the game via an internet connection. Select Switch games can use the improved Switch2 performance through either free or paid updates. The Switch2 retains the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which is required for some multiplayer games and provides access to the Nintendo Classics library of older emulated games; GameCube games are exclusive to the Switch2. The GameChat feature allows players to chat remotely and share screens and webcams.
Nintendo revealed the Switch2 on January16, 2025, and announced its full specifications and release details on April2. Pre-orders in most regions began on April5. The system received praise for its social and technical improvements over its predecessor, though the increased prices of both the console and its games library were criticized. More than 3.5 million units were sold worldwide within four days of release, making the Switch 2 the fastest-selling Nintendo console. As of June 2026, the Switch 2 has sold over 23million units worldwide. Mario Kart World, available as a bundled inclusion at launch, is its best-selling game with over 15million copies sold.
History
Background Nintendo released the original Switch in March 2017, which was developed in the wake of the commercial failure of the Wii U. The Switch was promoted as a hybrid console with handheld, tabletop, and docked configurations, with Joy-Con controllers that can be separated from the main unit for the handheld or tabletop configurations. Compared to the other major consoles on the market at the timethe PlayStation 4 and Xbox Onethe Switch had less-powerful computational hardware to keep the unit's price low, but sufficient to power the type of games Nintendo typically publishes; part of the company's long-term Blue Ocean Strategy to differentiate itself from the other console manufacturers. By December 2025, the Switch became Nintendo's best-selling console and the second best-selling gaming console overall, following the PlayStation 2. At the time of the Switch 2's announcement in January 2025, over 146 million Switch units had been sold worldwide.
Development Nintendo began pre-production of its next console shortly after the Switch's release, with a team reviewing the performance limitations of the Switch and identifying what hardware changes could be made to address them. This also provided enough time to plan out the hardware so as to be able to ship software development kits (SDKs) to game development partners. Formal development of the Switch 2 (codenamed "Ounce") started in 2019, led by producer Kouichi Kawamoto, hardware director Takuhiro Dohta, and technical director Tetsuya Sasaki. Though past Nintendo consoles have generally featured a new type of hardware experience, such as the hybrid nature of the original Switch, the Switch 2 development team found that developers had adapted to writing their games toward the hybrid format and decided it would not be helpful to introduce any significant hardware changes, instead choosing to focus on computation performance improvements to give developers better tools with which to work with. Hardware components were selected to balance performance and battery life along with expanding the memory to support newer games.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company sought to make the transition to its successor smooth for consumers, and backward compatibility was a key part of the design; Nintendo said, "Nintendo Switch is played by many consumers, and we decided that the best direction to take would be for consumers to be able to play their already purchased Nintendo Switch software on the successor to Nintendo Switch". As Nintendo prioritized improving the hardware, backward compatibility was more complex to implement than it had been for consoles such as Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, which have similar hardware to their predecessors. The Switch 2 uses a hybrid of software and hardware emulation to avoid a more taxing software-only solution. The name was partially influenced by the backward compatibility. Nintendo also considered "Super Nintendo Switch", similar to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System following the Nintendo Entertainment System, but decided this would diminish the compatibility feature. The new Joy-Con controllers were redesigned from the ground up. With the larger screen on the console, simply scaling the older Joy-Con to match size was not sufficient as their longer size would make it more difficult to hold and trigger the shoulder buttons. As such, Nintendo included more rounding-off of the corners and extended the shoulder buttons further towards the side of the controller. The HD Rumble feature was improved and surpassed the limits of the original Joy-Con, heightening its intensity to levels that are comparable to the controllers on the GameCube.
Rather than the rail system used on the original Switch, the new Joy-Con are connected using magnetic connections. Nintendo had originally explored magnetic connections for the first Switch model but the connection was determined to be too wobbly. With the Joy-Con 2, they refined the magnetic approach, making the connection stronger and easily removed with a mechanical release system. With this new system, the Joy-Con now audibly snap when the magnetic connection is made, which Dohta said helped to symbolize the Switch branding.
The capability of the Joy-Con to be used as computer mice was an idea introduced by Kawamoto who also played games on personal computers, as mouse control would not only allow the Joy-Con to help replace the screen's touch controls when the console is docked, but also could be used to introduce new forms of gameplay. Kawamoto said this idea represented Gunpei Yokoi's concept of "lateral thinking of withered technology" that has been part of Nintendo's approach for several decades. The Pro Controller was also similarly redesigned for the Switch 2, smoothing out the motions of the joysticks, and adding an audio jack and two programmable buttons in the grips that the player can customize.
The GameChat feature, which allows players to chat, and to share screens and webcams, is a result of Nintendo developers' own frustration with existing tools they had to use in game development during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Because standard software limited them to one shared screen, they pointed webcams at monitors for constant, simultaneous visibility. Kawamoto said that it felt "like we were all in the same place, each bringing our own console to play the game together, which was a lot of fun", leading to the development of the GameChat feature. The GameChat feature was developed to minimize the use of system resources that would take away from game performance, and some functionality is based on the same streaming service Wii U Chat that was developed for the Wii U and Wii U GamePad.
Industry rumors Industry rumors began as early as 2019 of a high-end model of the Switch, often nicknamed the "Nintendo Switch Pro" in the media; many of the speculated features became part of the OLED Switch model, released in 2021. Nintendo confirmed it was working on its next gaming system during a call with investors in October 2020. Digital Foundry said that Nintendo may have been working on a "pro" model for the Switch, but by December 2022, it appeared to have fully transitioned all development towards the Nintendo Switch successor. Court reports from the 2023 FTC v. Microsoft case, which challenged Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, included reference to Activision being briefed on the "Switch NG" in December 2022.
Video Games Chronicle reported in July 2023 that Nintendo had sent out SDKs for its next console to development partners and that Nintendo wanted to avoid the shortages that the ninth generation consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, had suffered at launch. Nintendo showcased the Switch 2 in a private presentation during Gamescom in August; among the tech demos were a version of the Switch game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017), running at a higher frame rate and resolution, and the Unreal Engine 5 demo The Matrix Awakens (2021).
While Nintendo officially acknowledged the development of the Switch's successor by May 2024, rumors and leaked photos of a new console persisted through 2024, as well as a data breach from Game Freak on the development of the next Pokémon game for the Switch's successor.
At the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January, several third-party vendors showcased accessories scheduled for the Switch successor, leading Nintendo to issue a statement that none of the mock-ups used at the show were official. Nintendo filed a lawsuit against video game accessory company Genki in May 2025 for using detailed renders and a 3D printed model of the Switch 2 in their CES presentation; Genki settled with Nintendo in September 2025, paying an undisclosed sum and agreeing to avoid similar marketing approaches in the future.
Announcement and promotion The Switch 2 was initially expected to launch in late 2024. In February 2024, Bloomberg News and The Nikkei both reported that Nintendo had informed publishers it was delaying the release into early 2025 to prevent console shortages and scalping. Bloomberg reported after the console's launch that the delay was also due in part to the console designers requesting more time to perfect the games that were to be released alongside the console at launch. Nintendo's shares fell by nearly six percent following the reported delay.
Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 on January 16, 2025, introducing its new design and magnetic Joy-Con controllers, and brief footage of a new Mario Kart game, which was later announced as Mario Kart World. A one-hour Nintendo Direct presentation about the Switch 2 premiered on April 2, with Nintendo Treehouse presentations on Switch 2 games airing in the following 2 days. Nintendo hosted a series of worldwide events from April through June to allow players to try the console before release. Furukawa said Nintendo was making preparations for the Switch 2's release to prevent excessive sales to resellers and scalpers, which had been a problem with previous Nintendo hardware releases.
As part of the promotion for the Switch 2, Nintendo of America partnered with Major League Baseball and the Seattle Mariners to have the Nintendo and Switch 2 logos be featured on the Mariners' team jerseys for the 2025 season. In April 2025, Nintendo of America released a commercial for the console starring actor Paul Rudd, directly referencing a commercial promoting the SNES that he also starred in 34 years prior. During the March 2025 installment of Nintendo Direct, Nintendo simultaneously announced and launched the Nintendo Today! application for iOS and Android devices, intended to act as the primary news and calendar hub for delivering information on various Nintendo platforms, including daily updates related to Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, software, services and forthcoming events following the Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct.
Pre-orders