Examining Nintendo Switch 2’s launch two months later

A little while ago, we talked about the pros and cons of Mario Kart World two months after its original release. That’s not the only thing we’re looking at two months later, though – today, we’re remembering and evaluating the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch period (even though it hasn’t been all that long just yet).

Needless to say, it’s been a very long time since all-new Nintendo hardware has launched. Sure, we’ve seen things like Alarmo, but Nintendo Switch 2 was the first major hardware the company had released in eight years. And as you probably remember very well, the lead-up to release was crazy, to say the least. In 2024, it was pretty clear that Nintendo was going light to prepare resources for the new console. A big chunk of the new games were remasters or remakes – Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are a few notable examples.

This trend of remakes and remasters continued into 2025 with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, both of which have somewhat gone under the radar since release. Rumors of a “Switch Pro” started swirling in 2021, but that ultimately never came to fruition – perhaps those rumors were indeed for Switch 2 all along, given that Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza both shifted development from Switch to Switch 2 around the same time. Rumors of a “Nintendo Switch 2”, however, really began taking off in late 2023. Years continued to pass with no announcement, and especially during 2024 fans were clamoring for new hardware. The year’s big releases, Mario & Luigi: Brothership and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom both suffered from performance issues, and it was clear that the original system wasn’t going to cut it for much longer. New games simply didn’t play super well – third-party ports like Sonic Generations and Epic Mickey: Rebrushed ran at much lower frame rates and resolutions than on other platforms.

In January 2025, podcaster and often-credible leaker NateTheHate predicted that Nintendo Switch 2 would be revealed imminently. Indeed, on January 16, Nintendo shadow-dropped a brief reveal trailer which also showed a few seconds of Mario Kart World footage (which was unnamed at the time). What was surprising about this is that they revealed the console on the same day that Donkey Kong Country Returns HD released, which is highly unusual – as hardware reveal would inevitably distract from the new game. Still, a big presentation was announced for April 2, and anticipation steadily increased over the next few months.

When the day finally came, Nintendo dropped a ton of 2 news, including the price and June 2025 release date for Switch 2. Announcements also took place for Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online, upgrade packs for Super Mario Party Jamboree, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Metroid Prime 4, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A; plus Kirby Air Riders, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Drag x Drive. That was far more news than we were used to seeing at the time. And generally, this Nintendo Direct was received well, but the price was criticized. The actual presentation did not state how much the console would cost; you had to go to the Nintendo website to see the pricing options instead.

Pre-orders went live soon after the presentation aired in many regions, though they were delayed in the United States by a few weeks due to the uncertainty brought about by tariffs. As you might expect, almost every online retailer sold out immediately, and several of the websites completely crashed for a short period of time. Lines at physical retailers went on forever, and it was clear that there was a ton of demand. Similarly, the console sold extremely well on launch day with plenty of midnight release events held across the world. In total, Nintendo Switch 2 sold around six million units in a little over a month, becoming the fastest-selling video game console of all time.

On launch day, Nintendo Switch 2 received a whole bunch of launch titles, so we’ll list the most notable ones: Mario Kart World, upgrades for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, Cyberpunk 2077, Street Fighter 6, two new chapters of Deltarune, three GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online, and free upgrades for games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Super Mario 3D World, Link’s Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom, and Super Mario Odyssey. Of these, Mario Kart World was naturally the most popular, and players quickly took note of its satisfying and refined gameplay mechanics as well as its music and visual style. Just about all of the games mentioned above were well-received, too: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom run smoother than ever, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet received very much-needed performance boosts as well. Discussion around Mario Kart World kind of fell off after a while due to a few odd design choices in the game – being unable to Free Roam in multiplayer and being unable to pick three-lap courses online were a few of its flaws that still haven’t been fixed just yet.

And now, we’re kind of in a strange position with Nintendo Switch 2. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, the console’s two major games so far, have come and gone – both are fantastic, of course – but it feels like we’re already in a lull period of sorts. We do know that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment are coming in 2025 (though that last one could potentially be 2026), but we still don’t have any release dates at the time of writing. It’s only been two months, though, so perhaps it’s to be expected that there would be gaps here and there. When Switch 2 eventually receives its own versions of Animal Crossing and Super Smash Bros., the console will take off – those are two of any Nintendo console’s heavy hitters, and after the success of New Horizons and Ultimate, it’s clear that Nintendo is definitely putting new entries in both franchises on Switch 2 at some point.

Overall, how would you rate the launch of Nintendo Switch 2? Did the console release with everything you wanted, or do you still think it’s missing a killer app? We have several years left with this system, and its life span is just beginning with plenty of announcements to come.