All signs point to Nintendo announcing the Nintendo Switch 2 before the end of January, but that doesn’t mean the rumor mill is stopping anytime soon. Another Switch 2 leak has surfaced from a tipster with a track record for Nintendo intel, potentially revealing the console’s release date, price and launch titles.
Nintendo is set to reveal the Switch 2 on January 17 with a launch scheduled for March 3, according to the noted leaker Average Lucia Fanatic, an anonymous tipster who accurately leaked the PS5 Pro and Nintendo Alarmo last year (h/t Vice). If that March 3 date sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same day the original Switch launched back in 2017. They also claimed the Nintendo Switch 2’s price will be $400 CAD. That works out to about $280 USD, which would likely translate into a $300 price tag in the States, putting it on par with the Switch OLED and the Switch’s launch price.
As for the games, the insider’s post mentioned two major launch titles: Mario Kart 9 and Red Dead Redemption 2. They also teased an announcement trailer for a new 3D Mario game could be on the horizon, potentially setting the stage for the console’s future library of titles.
As usual, it’s best to take this with a grain of salt until otherwise confirmed. But we won’t have long to wait to see if it shakes out to be true, what with the Switch 2’s announcement purportedly going down next week. And if those do end up being the Switch 2’s launch titles, Nintendo’s setting itself up for a homerun.
Mario Kart 9 was already somewhat of a given, though a new entry in the long-running series would provide plenty of incentive to upgrade. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may be the best-selling game on the Switch, but as a 10-year-old port of a Wii U title, it’s been in desperate need of a successor for a while now. But now with launch titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 entering the conversation, Nintendo’s big ambitions for its next-gen system are becoming clear. If a Nintendo console can run such a graphically demanding game, that could mark a major shift in how third-party developers approach Nintendo platforms.
Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long for an official reveal from Nintendo, so we can finally put all this speculation to rest.
