In March of 2025, the Nintendo Switch will be eight. And yet Nintendo has continually refused to divulge any info about the console’s incoming successor (except for that one time a few months back), forcing others to take matters into their own hands. Over the weekend, accessory maker Dbrand posted hi-res renders of the ‘Switch 2 Killswitch’ case on Twitter and its website, giving us a proper peek at the console.
That was the leak that broke the internet’s back. Soon after Dbrand’s post, its CEO clarified a couple of physical aspects in a conversation with The Verge. Namely, the Switch 2’s (that’s its name, apparently) dimensions and a couple of other facts that corroborate the many, many leaks that flooded the internet this weekend. Like the addition of magnetic joy-cons, or an all-new “community’ button on the device’s right-hand side.
Dbrand weighs in
We will not be answering any questions at this time. pic.twitter.com/kBQcbB2PfV
— dbrand (@dbrand) December 12, 2024
According to Dbrand, it has seen the actual dimensions of the Switch 2, enabling this early build of the console’s first case. If you believe it, the Switch 2 boasts larger dimensions than its predecessor, taking advantage of the current PC-handheld craze. Those are: 270mm wide, 116mm tall, and 14mm thick – while the kickstand reportedly measures 55mm diagonally, further lending itself to the rumours of an 8in display (up from 7in on the Switch OLED).
He continued by saying he believes the joy cons to be “magnetically attached’ which features an ejector button on their rear. There’s also the new mini square button on the right side of the console, featuring a simple “C”. The CEO says he’s not sure what this button does, but reports from other leaks (we’ll get to those in a minute) seem to indicate that it’s a ‘community; button, one that’ll immediately teleport you to the social side of the Switch 2.
He continued his info dump with the news that Nintendo hasn’t provided any sort of potential release date, although Dbrand is targeting a release for “late March or early April,” once again tying into the numerous other rumours – and Nintendo’s comments – swirling around Nintendo’s forthcoming console. Dbrand’s information should be taken with a grain of salt, though its stature tends to give its info an edge over all the rest.
But wait, it gets better
While Dbrand’s comments could be construed as fact, it didn’t mention anything about the actual specs – citing that it has only seen a 3D render of the console and not in person. Nintendo seems to be hanging onto that information for dear life (although even older leaks give us a vague idea of what to expect, too).
The closest we’ll get to that is in this video posted to the SwitchUp YouTube channel, showing off what appears to be a 3D-printed mock-up of the Switch 2, sent to the channel by a Chinese case maker. It lines up with the reported dimensions above, and the addition of a new “C” button on the right side.
Finally, we come to a time-travelling leaker in the r/NintendoSwitch2 subreddit by the name of u/NextHandheld who claims to have actually held the console, though couldn’t provide any proof for fear of revealing their identity. Normally, that would be cause to dismiss their claims entirely. According to a subreddit moderator, however, the leaker provided solid, verifiable proof in private, though was asked not to share it.
The leaker was open to answering questions about the actual hardware, however, claiming that they could post their evidence on or after 25 December with the disclaimer that they did not turn the console on. He goes on to confirm the existence of the magnetic (and Hall Effect!) joy-cons, community button and a tentative reveal date of 11 January. Oh, and that the console is actually called ‘Switch 2′. That sounds about right.
That’s it for now, though we expect the leaks to continue pouring out until Nintendo gets ’round to unveiling the thing properly. When that’ll be remains a mystery, though a January reveal wouldn’t be out of the question.
