TheNintendo Switch 2has been officially confirmed to release in 2025—something that long-time Nintendo followers have assumed for a while now. Nintendo is planning on unveiling more information about the hotly anticipated console this April, but it already seems safe to say that it will be amore powerful version of the original Switch, offering better graphics and performance alongside some new features, but not reinventing the wheel, as it were.
Naturally, the greatest question surrounding theNintendo Switch 2, for the average consumer, is what its spate of launch titles will look like. The console’s reveal trailer drew back the curtain on a newMario Kart, which is exciting enough on its own, but it probably won’t be alone. That is to say, the Switch 2 will probably be joined, or closely chased, by new entries in other legacy Nintendo franchises, with IP likeZeldaandDonkey Kongseeming like viable options for the device’s early life. But while the next releases in these franchises are still shrouded in mystery, there’s one other prestigious game that seems exceedingly likely to launch alongside the Switch 2, and it’s already been revealed.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Seems Like an Obvious Switch 2 Launch Title
Metroid Prime 4’s Reveal Trailer Signals Post-Switch Visuals
The Nintendo Switch has certainly been known to punch above its weight on the technical front. Games likeZelda: Tears of the Kingdom, for instance, are arguable miraclesof game development, looking and playing better than anyone could have expected considering the Switch’s relatively archaic hardware. Even ambitious third-party games likeThe Witcher 3, though certainly downgraded for Nintendo’s hybrid device, still manage to be surprisingly playable.
Having said that,Metroid Prime 4looks particularly “next-gen,“possibly crossing the line of the original Switch’s capabilities and going beyond whatever technical magic Nintendo’s first-party studios may manage to conjure. The footage shown in the game’s reveal trailer is saturated with particle effects, impressively rendered reflections, and detail that surpasses Nintendo’s other first-party games of the Switch generation, all while ostensibly running as smooth as silk. Advanced graphical features like ray-tracing aren’t present, nor is the game competing with this generation’s most visually astonishing titles, but it comes across as a meaningful leap for Nintendo, suggesting that the game could be an early Switch 2 release.
It’s definitely conceivable thatMetroid Prime 4: Beyondwould be cross-gen, much likeBreath of the Wildbefore it, but even if that’s the case, it’s still arguable that its reveal trailer footage was captured on the Switch 2.
Nintendo Might as Well Make Metroid Prime 4 a Switch 2 Launch Title
Setting asideMetroid Prime 4’s visual fidelity and performance for a moment, there’s a far less tech-centric reason why Nintendo may choose to make it a launch title.Metroid Prime 4has been confirmed for a 2025 release, though Nintendo has thus far withheld information about a specific release date—circumstances that are decidedly parallel to those surrounding the Switch 2. Of course, it’s not impossible forMetroid Prime 4to release before the Switch 2, but it seems like a release date that coincides with this new console would be an easy way to boost the sales of both products.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyondhas long been one of the most highly anticipated first-party Nintendo games, and fans of the series would surely shell out for a Switch 2 if it were the only platform on which to play it. At the very least, one could imagineMetroid Prime 4mirroring the release strategy ofSuper Mario Odyssey: releasing months after the Switch 2, but still being viewed as a sort of loose launch title, defining the console’s first year on the market.
Nintendo Switch 2
The successor to 2017’s Nintendo Switch continues down the same path as its predecessor, providing a hybrid experience that supports both home and handheld gaming. Launching on July 15, 2025, with games like Mario Kart World, the basic Nintendo Switch 2 bundle comes with the console, Joy-Con 2, straps for the controller, a dock, an AC adapter, an HDMI cable, and a Joy-Con 2 grip.
