Clip your overalls, put on your caps, and strap in: Nintendo’s big Switch 2 reveal is finally upon us. Below you can find out how to watch the Switch 2 Direct and everything else you should know about Nintendo’s plans for the new console this week.
The Mario maker gave us a brief tease of the Switch successor earlier this year but the April 2, 2025 showcase will be a full-blown Nintendo Direct that hopefully answers all of our big questions about the upcoming hardware, including if it’s shipping in June as currently rumored. A sneak peak of what looked like Mario Kart 9 was also shown earlier this year, but Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct will likely include lots of other games fans can expect at launch and in the months after.
How and when to watch the Switch 2 Direct
The Switch 2 Direct will be streaming live on YouTube, which means you can easily watch it via the video embedded below wherever you get your internet. The feed is scheduled to go live at 9:00 a.m. ET on April 2 and Nintendo recently confirmed the entire show will run approximately 60 minutes. That’s about how long the big presentation for the original Switch was back in 2016.
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The company has promised a “closer look at Nintendo Switch 2.” What exactly does that mean? Well, for starters fans will be hoping to get specifics on the price, release date, and when pre-orders go live. Analysts have currently predicted a price of $400-450, with a release date rumored for June 3 and pre-orders potentially going live on April 9 at big retailers. Another big question will be whether the new hardware is powerful enough to play Elden Ring. We currently don’t know anything official about the Switch 2's internal specs.
What games will be at the Switch 2 Direct?
Since we’ve already gotten a taste of the new Mario Kart game, it’s a good bet that will be delved into more deeply during the showcase. With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being the best selling game on Switch, it would make sense for the sequel to be a launch game for the Switch 2. We might see new modes, online features, and additional characters added to the racing franchise’s roster. Hopefully, MK9 has a fresh gameplay gimmick as well (like making it an RPG).
Other possibilities are Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. While both are confirmed Switch games, they also seem like easy candidates for Switch 2 Edition upgrades that Nintendo has previously hinted at. More exciting is the prospect of big sequels to Nintendo’s other franchises getting revealed, like a new 3D Mario game, a successor to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or a sixth entry in the 2D side-scrolling Donkey Kong Country series. Given Microsoft’s new multiplatform strategy and Sony bringing Lego Horizon Adventures to Switch, it’s assumed both console rivals might have ports of older games to announce during the stream.
We’ll see more Switch 2 games at Nintendo Treehouse: Live later in the week
The Switch 2 Direct isn’t the only Nintendo event happening this week. Nintendo’s in-house events team will be holding a Treehouse Live on YouTube on April 3 and April 4 with more deep-dives into the games shown during the April 2 showcase. Similar to previous Treehouse events, we’ll likely get explanations of new game features, interviews with Nintendo developers, and lots of new gameplay footage to analyze.
The Thursday show will be four hours long followed by a shorter three hour livestream on Friday. April 4 is also when select fans in New York and elsewhere will get to go hands-on with the Switch 2 and some of its launch games. Insider Gaming reported that media and content creators will be going hands-on with the Switch 2 sometime this week as well.
When do Switch 2 pre-orders go live?
Modern video game consoles all seem to have a knack for selling out at launch, so diehard fans will want to lock-in their pre-orders as quickly as possible. So far, we haven’t heard anything official from Nintendo about when players will be able to pre-order the Switch 2 ahead of its launch. A now-deleted post from Walmart Canada suggested pre-orders would go live on April 2 around 10:00 a.m. ET immediately following the Switch 2 Direct.
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Other sources have suggested one full week later is when pre-orders will actually become available. Documents obtained from a “large U.S. retailer” at Insider Gaming suggested April 9 is the date for pre-orders, though it’s unclear if that is just for some retailers and not all. Companies often allot various amounts of stock to different stores, which can then sell it on their own timelines.
The safest way to be prepared for whatever actually happens is to be logged into Target, GameStop, Amazon and others as soon as the Switch 2 Direct ends just in case pre-orders do go live immediately after the event.
Update 4/2/25 4:31 p.m. ET: Added pre-order information and Treehouse Live schedule.
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