Rumor: Switch 2 Development kits already in the hands of game studios

The rumor mill for Nintendo Switch 2 never really stops, but the rumors of the past few days may have legs. Twitter self proclaimed “leak analyst” Nash Weedle claims that devkits for the Nintendo Switch 2 are already in the hands of Spanish game studios, which would indicate we are in the “last phase” before official announcement of the console.

Multiple Nintendo Switch 2 rumors seem to be converging

Although Weedle hasn’t provided any kind of proof to back his claim, he is known for having leaked details on Metroid Dread in 2020, before the game was officially announced by Nintendo.

Furthermore, people mention that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick may have “spilled some beans” already in the ongoing FTC vs Microsoft case. He stated, when asked about the possibility of a Call of Duty port for Nintendo Switch:

“Given closer alignment of Gen 8 platforms and our previous offerings on PS4 and Xbox One, it’s reasonable to assume we can make something compelling for NG [next-gen] Switch as well.” –source

Whether Kotick was sharing some Nintendo Switch 2 information in here is unclear, as he also said “I think we would consider [putting Call of Duty on the Switch’s successor] once we had the specs but we don’t have any at present”.

Nonetheless, it looks like some people (including Weedle) may have used the opportunity to start leaking more information on the Switch 2 (my gut feeling: leakers might worry that others would leak critical info before them – reputation wise – but might also not want to be the first ones to talk).

Since Metroid Dread was developed by Spanish studio MercurySteam, many people are now guessing that the source of both the Metroid leak and this Switch 2 leak might be an insider from MercurySteam.

 

What will be the specs of a Nintendo Switch 2?

Weedle provided additional information to Youtube Channel “Behind the Games“, saying that the Spanish Studio in question are testing the devkit with a Nintendo Switch pro controller, as, allegedly, Nintendo are afraid of their next controller’s specs leaking ahead of time.

None of the above is confirmed of course, but it’s clear that people have been wanting a Switch 2 for some time. Nintendo themselves have started to timidly hint about next gen, in particular recently when Nintendo president Furukawa said “As for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next generation machine, we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers while utilizing the Nintendo Account”.

This indicates possible backward-compatibility, which the use of a pro controller mentioned by Nash Weedle also hints at. We could be thinking this is going to be the rumored “Switch pro”, but the added rumor of a “secret” new controller would invalidate that.

A new generation Nintendo Switch, backward compatible, roughly as powerful as a PS4, and with some innovative controller design, is what the rumors are currently saying.

But none of this is confirmed, so take it with a bucket of salt.