Nintendo Switch 2 name could be final, dashing our hopes of something more fun

(Credit: Nintendo)

• 🤷‍♂️ It’s looking like the next Nintendo console will be called the Switch 2

• 🤔 It would mark the first time Nintendo has released a numbered successor

• 🆕 Nintendo usually comes up with unique names or adds an adjective like “Super”

• 😅 The Nintendo Switch 2 name makes the most sense, even if it is a little boring

The Nintendo Switch 2 could be the final name of the Japanese company’s next home console. That’s according to Dr. Sekan Toto, an often reliable analyst, and CEO of Kantan Games, a Japan game industry consultancy.

Toto posted “Switch 2” on X, suggesting that could be the console’s final name. However, we won’t know for certain until Nintendo reveals the Switch successor, which it’s promised to do before the end of this financial year.

The name might disappoint those hoping to see something more zany and fun, like the Super Nintendo Switch, but it makes sense that Nintendo would keep the naming convention of its next system nice and simple. Nintendo has never released a numbered successor to any of its systems, often preferring to use a unique name like “GameCube” or adding an adjective like “Advance”, “Super”, “New” or… “U” to an existing name.

The last thing Nintendo wants to do is create confusion over its new console. Calling it the Nintendo Switch 2 is clear and concise, and immediately tells a consumer that this is the successor to the Switch, even if they don’t know much about it.

A recent Nintendo Switch 2 leak shows the new console could look strikingly similar, though the Switch 2 will have a bigger screen, Joy-Con controllers that attach via magnetic rails, and potentially a camera.

Still, the Kyoto-based company won’t want to repeat the same mistakes it made with the Wii U. The console looked too similar to the Wii and led many to believe it was an accessory and not a brand-new console. Nintendo will also want to avoid the sorry situation Microsoft has wound up in after it chose to call the successor to the Xbox 360… the Xbox One.

The Nintendo Switch 2 codename recently leaked. Nintendo is calling its next console “Ounce” internally, but don’t expect that to be the final name. For now, Switch 2 seems like the safest bet.

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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.