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The Nintendo Switch 2 may have been delayed until more than a year away, reports say – but for an important reason.
Nintendo has pushed back the release date until March 2025, and may arrive later, despite recent reports that suggested it could be ready this year. The new date comes from Nikkei, and echoes previous reports that the console would be released early next year.
That delay, however may be in part to ensure that enough stock is available of the console. The decision was taken to “secure initial stock” of the Switch 2, the report from Nikkei suggested.
The previous version of the Nintendo Switch was hit by huge interest that meant the console was being sold on by resellers at inflated prices. The same problems hit the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X when they were released in 2020
The delay also means that the company can have a strong line-up of launch games at the time of release, the Nikkei report claimed.
Earlier this month, Nintendo had said that the console would be its “main business” in 2024, during an earnings call. It declined to comment on the Switch 2 at that time.
Nearly seven years after the release of the first Switch, it still remains unclear what upgrades will be included in its successor. Reports have suggested that it will include an improved display and better processors.
In 2021, Nintendo was widely rumoured to be working on a Switch Pro, which would have 4K support and other features. But it explicitly denied them in an unusual move, saying that it was not working on that console.
Instead, it released an OLED model that included an improved display. The Nintendo Switch was originally released in early 2017, and was followed by a “Lite” version that came in 2019.
