New details about the Nintendo Switch 2 have been leaked and gaming fans are eager to find out more. The Nintendo Switch 2 has long been rumored to be announced sometime soon. Exactly when no one knows.
In January, Kalshi launched a market on whether or not the console will be released this year. Prediction market forecasts for an announcement peaked at 93% back in February, but they are currently at an all-time low of 29%.
Nintendo Switch 2 release date leaked
Game Freak, the publisher behind the massively popular Pokémon, was hacked and the victim of a massive leak. The leak included information about past, future, and scrapped Pokémon games, personal information about employees, and even scrapped Pokémon-human love stories.
In a statement released by Game Freak (translation can be found here), the leak was confirmed, along with other details, such as 2,606 cases of current, former, and contract employee names and email addresses being accessed.
Perhaps most interesting to Nintendo Switch fans, there were potential references to a Switch 2 in the leak. Back in May, the president of Nintendo, Furukawa, tweeted there would be an announcement regarding the next console in Nintendo’s lineup sometime before the end of the current fiscal year ending March 2025.
This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
And in mid-September, unverified prototype images of Nintendo’s Switch 2 circulated the internet. Of these leaks, most were about their latest game “Pokemon Legends: Z-A.” For example, the leak revealed the game is currently being tested on the Switch and on something called “Ounce.” There have been rumors for some months now that the codename for the next console was “Ounce” and this seems to confirm said rumors.
This isn’t the first time Nintendo has used codenames for their consoles. Nintendo 64 was known as Project Reality and Nintendo GameCube was called the Dolphin. The Nintendo DS was first known as Nitro. The Wii was referred to as Revolution, and the Wii U was known as Project Cafe. We don’t know for sure if Ounce will be like the Switch, but it is likely the next console.
Amid Game Freak’s unfortunate data breach, Nintendo fans have found a silver lining: potential hints about the highly anticipated Switch 2. With rumors swirling and unverified leaks fueling excitement, it seems the wait for official confirmation continues. Given the sharp decline in current predictions, bettors are now more skeptical than ever that the console’s release date will be announced this year.
