Potential Nintendo Switch 2 Leaks Send Gamers Scrambling
Nintendo requests that you pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The legendary video game company is planning to reveal the successor to their wildly popular Nintendo Switch at the end of the fiscal year – which is March 31 in Japan – to commemorate the announcement of the Switch in March of 2015 and its release in March of 2017. But this week, purported leaked images of the device most are calling the Switch 2 (maybe they’ll go with something more imaginative, like the Nintendo Swap or the Nintendo White Elephant) have been making their way online, and Nintendo gamers are in a tizzy over what may be a premature reveal of the new console. LAZIRO, an electronics accessory brand, listed a protective case for the Switch 2 on Amazon, and the images in the listing show the console, or at least seem to. You can see the images below courtesy of One Take News:
The first full look at the Nintendo Switch successor has been accidentally revealed in an Amazon listing.
(via https://t.co/nFx6XT3QjQ) pic.twitter.com/huKTv5mHjB
— One Take (@OneTakeNews) January 7, 2025
Genki, another electronics accessories manufacturer, showed images it claims are of the Switch 2 at CES, a tech trade show held in Las Vegas that runs from January 7 to January 11 this year. Genki claims (via CNET) that the Switch 2 will be released in April – not announced but released – and that it will have new features, including magnets for the JoyCon controller as opposed to rails, a C button, and an optical sensor so you can use the JoyCon like a mouse. It’s worth noting that Nintendo is not attending this year’s CES. You can see a video of what Genki claims is the Nintendo Switch 2 below, courtesy of X account Centro LEAKS:
#CES2025: Genki shows the Nintendo Switch 2 and the accesories they have been working on for the console pic.twitter.com/4CAUtAs3Gf
— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) January 8, 2025
This design, if it’s real, would contradict the one LAZIRO used in its Amazon listing for its Switch 2 case. Maybe they’re using the old Switch to advertise the case, which means either the Switch 2 will look exactly like the Switch, or LAZIRO is not showing customers the real Switch 2 case yet so as not to step on Nintendo’s toes. Elsewhere, an “exclusive” report from 91mobiles and OnLeaks showcases more purported images of the Switch 2 and details some of the new features, including a USB Type-C port, a headphone jack, triggers that they believe are for detaching the JoyCons (for a second, I wondered if they were replicating the trigger from the Nintendo 64 controller – the greatest video game controller of all time), a new kickstand shaped like a “U,” and a game card slot that they believe suggests backwards compatibility with the original Switch. You can see a video rendering of what they claim the Switch 2 will look like below:
91mobiles and OnLeaks’ “leak” is the closest to one from September in which supposed images of the Switch 2 found their way to a Chinese social media site and were later shared on Reddit and X. Does that make this the most likely version of the Switch 2? Maybe, but I think it’s just as possible that none of these are real. Nintendo responded to a question about Genki’s CES display to The Sankei Shimbun, saying that “the images and videos are not official.” That’s not exactly a denial, which lends credence to Genki’s version of the Switch 2, though it’s far from confirmation. So, what happens next? Well, Nintendo’s got two choices; they can either announce the Switch 2 in March like they originally planned, or they can try to get ahead of any leaks – whether they’re already out or not – and announce it early. It’s a tough spot to be in, and while I’m sure Switch fans want to know as much as they can as soon as they can, I sympathize with Nintendo having to navigate a bunch of companies that capitalize on their products trying to steal their thunder. If it were me, I think I’d wait, if only out of spite. And according to a Reddit post (via TheGamer), that’s what Nintendo is doing, with a supposed insider claiming the Nintendo PR team finds the leaks funny. But, as with the leaks themselves, who knows if that’s real?
Let us know what you make of these possible Nintendo Switch 2 leaks in the comments!
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