According to new sources, the Nintendo Switch 2 has been pushed back to next year, and more specifically, the successor to Nintendo's best-selling handheld and home console hybrid will launch as early as March 2025

This latest report, from popular Japanese media outlet Nikkei, confirms a widely circulated rumor earlier this month that revealed the Switch 2 had been pushed back from a planned 2024 launch to Q1 2025

While this original rumor suggested that Nintendo had shifted the release date of its next console to make its launch lineup as strong as possible (rumors persist that the Switch 2 will launch with a new 3D Mario game), Nikkei also offered another reason for the delay

According to the magazine, one of the main reasons for the Switch 2's slightly later-than-expected arrival is that Nintendo wants to ensure that it meets the expected demand at launch The company hopes to avoid the nightmare of PS5 restocking

As someone who tracks PS5 restocks daily for a living, I can personally attest to Sony's inability to meet demand for the current console, which has caused great frustration from November 2020, when the PS5 launched, until early 2023, at major retailers Inventory was extremely difficult to find, and many gamers took to the resale market to fetch high prices in order to get their hands on a PS5 as soon as possible

The first generation Nintendo Switch also suffered from inventory shortages; when it launched in March 2017, the console was sold out at most retailers and remained extremely difficult to purchase until that year's holiday seasonThe Switch's inventory issues were compounded by the "Animal Crossing" became an issue again in early 2020, when demand for the console surged following the release of New Horizons: New Horizons

Since the Nintendo Switch 2 will almost certainly be a bestseller shortly after its release, it is comforting to know that, if this report is accurate, Nintendo is hoping to avoid the situation that plagued the PS5 early in its life cycle Plus, it might save me from going a little crazy trying to track Switch 2 restocks every day

Nikkei also suggests that Nintendo's next console, commonly referred to as the Switch 2, will be a proper successor to the gaming giant's hit console Switch This console would also be a hybrid system that could be connected to a TV or used as a portable device It will also reportedly feature a larger display

This is consistent with many Nintendo Switch 2 rumors we have heard in the past, but to date, Nintendo has yet to go on record and give us any specific details about the future hardware, so take everything in this report with a grain of salt

One online tipster recently claimed that the Switch 2 will be announced in March, so it could be a matter of weeks before we get our first proper look at Nintendo's next-generation console However, according to this report from Nikki, we may not actually get our hands on the Switch 2 until a year or more from now