Nintendo has unveiled the first official details about the Switch 2 console, its follow-up to the Switch. The Switch 2 will release on June 5, it was announced in a Nintendo Direct on Wednesday morning.
“Mario Kart World,” the super-sized ninth entry in the racing series, was also revealed — and it goes off road for the first time in franchise history. Instead of racing through distinct courses, 24 racers (the most ever for the series) drive their karts, motorcycles, boats, trucks, snowmobiles and planes through an open world full of various regions. The Nintendo Direct showed new vehicles, items and costumes for the racers, which featured the classic “Mario” crew plus some other new faces.
The original Nintendo Switch released back in March 2017, and its successor follows in its footsteps as a hybrid console that gamers can play at home or on the go. After months of rumors, the Switch 2 was officially announced in January with a teaser video that showed off its sleek, larger design. The new console has magnetically detachable Joy-con controllers and ditches their red and blue colors in favor of a mostly black palette. The controllers can also now be used as wireless mouses for certain games.
In other enhancements, the Switch 2 has a bigger LCD screen that supports HDR and 4K, plus a built-in stand to prop up the console when playing it in tabletop mode. The same directional buttons are included on the left Joy-con controller, and the A, B, X and Y button are on the right. The new C button and built-in microphone allows gamers to chat with each other while playing online. There are 256 gigabytes of storage, which is eight times more than the Switch. Game cartridges are now red, instead of black, and support faster data reading.
Nintendo Switch Online is getting a major expansion with retro GameCube titles being available to play on the console, including “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,” “SoulCaliber 2,” “F-Zero GX” and more to come after launch. There will also be wireless, classic GameCub controllers to purchase to play the throwback games.
The Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with certain Switch games, and past titles, like “Super Mario Party Jamboree,” “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom,” will get upgraded versions for the new console. “Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition,” “Hades 2,” “Street Fighter,” “Split Fiction,” “Madden NFL,” “Hogwarts Legacy,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” “Hitman: World of Assassination,” “Yakuza 0,” “Borderlands 4,” “Civilization VII,” “NBA 2K,” “WWE 2K,” “Cyberpunk 2077,” “Final Fantasy VII Remake” and more are coming to the Switch 2.
“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment,” a third entry in the fighting series, was announced for a winter release. “The Duskbloods,” a gothic, action-heavy new title from “Bloodborne” developer FromSoftware,” is also coming exclusively to the Switch 2 in 2026. “Kirby AirRiders,” a follow-up to the popular racing game from 2003, is coming this year from director Masahiro Sakurai. Donkey Kong is getting a new open-world game, seemingly inspired by “Super Mario Odyssey” and “Breath of the Wild,” titled “Donkey Kong Bananza,” releasing on July 17.
