Nintendo Switch 2 officially releases June 5, 2025

Along with several other features, today’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct gave us a release date for the highly anticipated console: June 5, 2025, with preorders beginning April 8. The price on the website is listed as $450 for the base console, and $500 for the bundle featuring Mario Kart World, though we’d expect this to change based on your location. This is a decent deal, since the base price for Mario Kart World is listed at $80.

Before announcing the release date, Nintendo gave us a big look at some features we can expect from the new console, as well as some really great-looking games we can expect to get as well. One of the biggest surprises is the fact that in addition to gameplay similar to the older Joycons, the new Switch 2 joycons can be used as a mouse. They gave us a look at some functionality like using the mouse to aim with golf, which should be fun for people who aren’t terrible at video game golf, and give the rest of us incredibly fun new ways to suck at it.

They also announced a new chat feature, where you can either play a game simultaneously as your friends over the internet, or you can play different games. This seems like a solidly gen alpha feature — my daughter already does this with friends, but over Discord, while they play Roblox or games on Steam or Xbox. Now, they’re all tied to the Switch ecosystem — and Nintendo’s parental controls, which I can truly appreciate as a parent.

They also showcased a bunch of games we’ll be able to play on the new system, from Elden Ring to Hades 2 to the new Split Fiction. Personally, anywhere I can play Mario Kart, I’m there.