Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Switch 2 Games

I and some others I've seen speculated that Hyrule Warriors might have been a January 2026 release since winter usually means Q1, it's very unusual if Winter means 2025.

I can also confirm that I will be buying most of them.
Now if they put more games actually on the cart they would have more sales from me.

I'm waiting for new Tomodachi Life for Switch.

DKB already pre ordered and HWAOI marked for pre ordering. And anything else that catches my eye, however, no cart = no cash from me!

Sure, yeah, I'm buying some.
Pre-ordered Daemon x Machina, obviously have Mario Kart locked down, and looking forward to Pokemon Z-A, Air Riders, Duskbloods, and Rhythm Heaven.

But here's the real question:
Where's my 4k 120fps Tomodachi Life?

I am primed 4 what’s beyond the launch!

I'm only curious about the BOTW edition, apart from that, not planning to buy any of this :/

Can’t wait to play prime 4 on my switch 2!

Prime 4 is probably my most hyped game at this moment. Can't wait to play it properly on Switch 2!

Where is Elden Ring? One of the very few that I’m going to buy right away.

This is my bet for the rest of the year:

-Mario Kart: June
-DK Bananza: July
-Drag x Drive: August
-Hyrule Warriors: September
-Metroid Prime: October
-Pokemon Legends: November

Kirby Air Riders will be pushed to February/March 2026. It's pointless to compete against MK World this Christmas, and they know it lol.
It's a good line up, and a lot of third party games will come along with these, especially now that GTA VI has been delayed.

They still haven’t grabbed my attention with the games yet (especially not at the asking price). But I am hoping that the next entry in the Construction Snake series is good, as I’ve always been fond of that ape since since standing watching his CGI model in Toys R Us.

imagine excluding Elden Ring

I wonder if we will get a Super Mario game for 40th anniversary.

These are more than enough good games for me. It should be a great year.

For those buying a Switch 2 purely for new first-party titles, it's looking like a pretty bare year so far.

I've recently heard there are some concerns about DK and Metroid Prime 4 causing motion sickness. Along with MKW these are the only games I'm interested in, so I'm waiting for the first adopters to be guinea pigs before I commit to anything.

Not a stellar launch campaign Nintendo.

Curious why is Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion always left out of these lists so far? I didn’t care for the first game much, but the sequel had one of the better & more interesting trailers in the Direct imo.

The abundance of anti-physical releases have been a real flaming bag of poo on the doorstep of the Switch 2's launch.

Also, why isn't the physical edition of Tamagotchi Plaza getting an international release on Switch 2? Especially considering that almost all of the third party offerings are anti-physical and/or adult-oriented.

Just Metroid Beyond on the original switch for me.

Only Metroid Prime 4, for me, so far.
And maybe Donkey Kong.
The big third party titles, I already own on PC.

I hope they got a big release for the holidays.
We really need a new epic 3D Mario.

I've already ordered mk world bundle, fast fusion, cyberpunk, a pro controller and carry case. When in the world I'm going to find time for the games of severe interest: Yakuza, elden ring, metroid prime and hitman is anyone's guess

@Don I wouldn’t expect a Super Mario game this year. Nintendo often releases merchandise to commemorate game anniversaries, but not new games. They seem to have no interest in shackling themselves to that schedule.

Mario kart, donkey Kong, and Metroid are sure shots for me on switch 2. I’m considering grand bazaar tomagotchi plaza, and the new rune factory. I’ve never played any of these games or their series so not sure about them. Kirby star crossed and maybe the two Zelda upgrades physically I’m considering also just because I like those games so much.

@Olliemar28

You forgot:
Fantasy Life i
Tales of the Shire

@the_beaver
Hyrule Warriors says Winter 2025
September is way too early.
More like mid-December

There was an article years ago saying that Nintendo learned their lesson to NEVER AGAIN release a new system without a Mario Game.
At the time, they were talking about the mainline games, not Kart...

I wonder what that author thinks of the N$2 launch...

What's the name of that Mii game?

Yes - Nintendo Switch 2
Yes - Mario Kart World
Maybe - Nintendo Switch 2: Welcome Tour
Maybe - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - N$2 Edition
Maybe - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - N$2 Edition
Pre-ordered - Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Nope - Yakuza 0: Director's Cut
Steep discount only - Hitman: World of Assassination
Nope - Split Fiction
Nope - Street Fighter 6
Maybe - Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
Nope - Deltarune
Nope - Tamagotchi Plaza
Discount - Donkey Kong Bananza
Nope - Mario Party Jamboree
Nope - Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar
Nope - Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Nope - Drag x Drive
Maybe - Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - N$2 Edition
Nope - Kirby Air Riders
Nope - Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition
Yes - Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Yes - Pokémon Legends: Z-A - N$2 Edition
Nope - The Duskbloods
Nope - Hades II
Yes - Fantasy Life i

Nintendo Switch:
Nope - Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Nope - Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Nope - Rhythm Heaven Groove
Yes - Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Nope - Pokémon Champions
Yes - Tales of the Shire

@the_beaver "Hyrule Warriors: September"

It's impossible. Nintendo re say today, the game comes next winter !!

Would love some more certainty on prime 4. The wish list is long but Mario kart and prime 4 are the non-negotiable games.

@Spider-Kev Wow, it's true, I'm surprised it's coming out so late... I wonder then if they'll release something else, otherwise between DK and Metroid it will be quite empty.
Maybe a lot of third party games?

Metroid 4 might be September or October.
Here's hoping Prime 2 and 3 come out as well, and in decent enough time that both can be played and beat before 4 comes out!

“You can’t scoff at pokemon and Metroid”.

Yes you can, people do it all the time!
Actually you can scoff at literally anything if you wanted to…

Can we get a real release date for Metroid please?

Switch 2 games for me this year:

Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bananza
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond

Nice to have/ not holding my breath:
Hades 2
Hollow Knight Silksong

Wishful thinking and if the stars align:
Kirby Air Riders

Ff7? When is that coming out

@spottedleaf well, winter starts in december, so winter 2025 is not strange.

Nintendo Switch 2

Mario Kart World
Nintendo Switch 2: Welcome Tour
(The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - NS2 Edition Upgrade pack)
(The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - NS2 Edition Upgrade pack)
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Yakuza 0: Director's Cut
Split Fiction (discounted)
Street Fighter 6
Deltarune 1-4
Donkey Kong Bananza
(Mario Party Jamboree Upgrade Pack)
(Kirby and the Forgotten Land Upgrade Pack)
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - NS2 Edition
Kirby Air Riders
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (Discounted)
Pokémon Legends: Z-A - NS2 Edition
Duskbloods (2026)
Hades II

Nintendo Switch 1:

Rhythm Heaven Groove
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Pokemon Champions

EDIT: Not all necessarily day 1, LOL. Only 5 Switch 2s are day 1. And 2 Switch 1s.

@Jack_Goetz To be fair, the Switch really only had BOTW at the start, only to get more throughout the year, so we can't judge this harshly.

That Direct in June will be interesting.

The graphic shows "Winter 2025" for Hyrule Warriors, but farther down, in the tabled schedule, it says, "This Winter." That seems like a strange thing to say, but that also could mean that it might not necessarily release in 2025. Unless we're supposed to trust the first one?

I am really excited for the 4 upcoming Switch games they all look like they're going to be fantastic games.

Definitely plenty to look forward to on Switch 2. Switch 1 still has a few decent first and third-party titles heading its way as well. I'm more than set playing the latter for some time, but it's good to know Switch 2 has a lot of support.

Just waiting to see how some of the third-party titles behave on Switch 2 vs. other platforms.

The longer they take to release Metroid Prime 4, the better for me. The money I have saved for it might not have been enough, all things considered. May double dip if I can find a cheap NS1 copy, but I intend to go to the NS2 Edition directly.

That Switch 2 list has a lot of old games and ports on it.

Actual Switch 2 new next gen exclusive game list for 2025 if there are no delays:

Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bananza
Welcome Tour
Drag & Drive
Kirby Air Ride
Hyrule Warriors AoI

That's what $450 gets you in 2025 as MP4 and Z-A are also on Switch. Better than PS5, certainly better than Series X/S maybe still, but a lot of the list is old ports. Good to have, the more the better, but ithat full long list seemed to not quite tell the story just right for a next gen $450 console.

I am holding out hope for more. Like @IronMan30 I think we could have an interesting June Not E3 Direct w/ a surprise drop or 2 for the holidays. Maybe a new Paper Mario or something similar. The holiday calendar seems light, and we really don't have much for 2026 either. Switch somehow never got Super Mario Galaxy 2, that needs to be corrected on Switch 2. After DK gets some breathing room.

@Jack_Goetz Theres a first party game releasing almost every month, this is more first party games in the launch window then most consoles get

@rjejr the thing is, were getting the switch 2 editions for metroid, botw, totk, mario party, kirby forgotten land, and pokemon z-a. Sure they aren't "exclusives" but they are gonna look so much better that it will seem like it (especially pokemon)

The only ones of these I'm really interested in are Bravely Default and Pokemon, and maybe Metroid, Elden Ring, and Hyrule Warriors.

@HatesCheese But do they look $450 better though? I'm all for playing old games. I played FF7 in 1997 and I can assure anyone the remakes do look $450 better than the original game. But Switch games looking $450 better on Switch 2, for an extra $10 on top of that, an extra $20 for some of them. Is that what we're paying $450 for, to pay even more money to play the same games we already bought for $60 just a few years ago?

All I'm saying is I'd have different lists. Switch 2 exclusives as noted above, paid & free Switch ports, and games that Switch didn't get like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk. Which are a very big deal, especially for Nintendo only gamers, but a lot of us have already played them. And I've watched some videos. Cyberpunk and Elden Ring still look better on my years old $400 PS5 than they do on the Switch 2.

The 1 massive list is a bit misleading is all. Sony did the same thing w/ PS5, even after saying they "know generations". MS was at least up front about it, no next gen exclusives for you. And now they are porting all their games to Sony and Nintendo b/c surprise surprise people aren't buying expensive new consoles to play games they can or already have.

Nintendo will be fine, just wish the reporting was better. Some people are paying $3 a month now, they deserve more accurate representation.

Is it too much to ask for an actual Metroid release date?

@rjejr that totally makes sense, definitely need to be more upfront about it and explain better. $450 is a lot of money just to let you spend $10-$20 more on these upgraded versions, but really that's just how games are gonna cost from now on, I don't think it's fair to ask if a switch 2 edition looks $450 better then its switch 1 edition cause you only need to buy the console once to get access to all the switch 2 games, the cost will even out with the more games you buy. Definitely respect your opinion and value perception though

@HatesCheese Oh I would buy 1 anyway if given the chance, Target canceled my preorder and the Nintendo store won't let me, no email invite, but the launch window lineup isn't really looking all that great right now to me, I don't play Pokémon or Metroid, but sure if you add all of those old games, ports, and paid upgrades it looks like the best launch ever. I suppose if I never owned a Switch or Sony console it would be great. But who's buying a $459 Switch 2 at launch who never owned a Switch? 🤷‍♂️

My list for the rest of the year:
MKWorld
DK Bananza
Hyrule Warriors

Maybe MP4 in 2026

@HatesCheese The bigger issue is that most of those are existing games that are years old, most early adopters of Switch 2 will have already played them and they are much less appealing to those folks. I say this as someone buying several of the Switch 2 edition games, they do not replace new releases in my view. Metroid arguably, Pokémon barely, certainly not the rest.

Honestly calling attention to that they are reselling older games makes the launch year feel more barren, not less.

Yea, give me an official date on Metroid Prime 4 and then we'll see about maybe buying a Switch2

I'm only in this for the Physical Complete on Cartridge Games.. so it'll be a short buying spree from me unfortunately.. I need to just write down or print out which Games are Physical copies as a checklist

Someone may have said this but Sonic X Shadow Generations is also a launch day title

Nintendo needs to let us preorder metroid prime 4 and the Pokemon game. I got these vouchers I don't want to expire lol

Oh I thought the Kirby Forgotten Land upgrade was launch day. Hmmm now I’ll have to figure something else out to play in June.

Cyberpunk being on the cartridge will elevate it top spot without a doubt

Having ditched the Switch years ago, I’ve been busy picking up second hand copies of Kirby Forgotten Land, Mario Party Jamboree, Super Mario World 3D and Captain Toad Treaure Tracker ready for the Switch 2 upgrades. That lot plus MKW will keep me busy for this year. Or until the next 3D Mario instalment.

My list:

• Mario kart
• Hitman
• Streetfighter
• Donkey Kong
• cyberpunk
• (Replay switch 1 upgraded games)
• Civilization

It infuriate me how they are just sitting on MP4 this much, the game is ready FFS (and probably has been for some time)

I have Mario Kart (got the bundle) and I preordered Cyberpunk. I really have been wanting to play this since it was "fixed." Street Fighter 6 is the only other game I may get at launch (sorry, Bravely Default, I love you, but I can't go through that final stage again). Metroid Prime 4 is probably the only other game I'd get this year.

Prime 4 is most likely a fall or winter release to avoid overlapping with Mario Kart and Donkey Kong