<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3jZpGd_0wNWycla00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3jZpGd_0wNWycla00" width="700" height="368" ></figure>It's been over seven years since the Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, 2017. Since then, the Nintendo Switch has achieved 143.42 million sales worldwide, marking it as the third best-selling gaming peripheral after the Nintendo DS (154.02 million) and the PlayStation 2 (over 155 million). Needless to say, the Switch has proven itself to be a major win for Nintendo, especially after the Wii U which seemingly failed to meet expectations as it has only sold 13.56 million units since it was released on November 18, 2012. Will Nintendo be able to continue this momentum with the release of their next console, or will it end up flopping like the Wii U did?Tons of rumors have been circulating over the years about what fans have now dubbed as the "Switch 2." Just like this fan-made name suggests, this is supposedly a console that effectively functions as a direct upgrade over its predecessor.Thanks to the T239 processor chip and Nvidia's DLSS upscaling technology, we can apparently expect higher frame rates, bigger resolutions, and virtually no load times on this new console. It's previously been reported that Nintendo at one point was showing off the Switch 2 behind closed doors, which featured an advance port of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and "The Matrix Awakens" tech demo.It's been a long wait since then, but Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed earlier this year that the Switch successor would be officially announced within this fiscal year, which concludes on March 31, 2025.By many accounts, this led us to believe that Nintendo would finally make the big announcement after the 2024 holiday season. However, there have been some interesting developments that may suggest that the reveal could happen sooner than expected.During the "special finale episode" of Masahiro Sakurai's YouTube channel, Sakurai casually revealed that he's been working on a secret game project since April 2022. While Sakurai didn't provide too many details about this mysterious game, he did claim that it could be revealed relatively soon."I'm sorry I can't share more about this project, but assuming we're able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later." — Masahiro Sakurai"I'm sorry I can't share more about this project, but assuming we're able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later," declared Sakurai during that video.This wasn't just a slip on the tongue as Sakurai also noted within that same video that he gets Nintendo's approval for every video that goes live on his channel. This means that Nintendo was comfortable with him revealing this information."I then took the pilot to Nintendo and discussed it with them as well. Not only did they do an initial check of the scripts, they also looked over the videos as necessary," said Sakurai. "Though, they almost never asked me to change things. Thank you for that!"Of course, Sakurai never confirmed that the request for the proposal of the secret game project came from Nintendo in the first place, but it does seem extremely likely considering that only Nintendo could've known where Sakurai's team was in terms of their progress of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC development at that point.The likeliest scenario is that Sakurai is developing a game for the upcoming console, which would explain why it hasn't been announced yet despite being in development for over two years at this point. Whether or not this is the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series is something that remains to be seen, but that is a possibility that fans are feeling particularly hyped about.Notably, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at this point has achieved over 34.66 million sales worldwide since it was released on December 7, 2018. In other words, it's the third best-selling game on the Switch after Animal Crossing: New Horizons (45.85 million) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (62.90 million). Needless to say, it would make sense why Nintendo would have a vested interest in beginning development on the next Super Smash Bros. so soon after Ultimate.Furthermore, a new trailer for Yooka-Replaylee dropped a not-so-subtle hint that the game was coming to the Switch successor. More specifically, the end part of the trailer declared that Yooka-Replaylee was coming to the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and "Nintendo." Fans immediately took notice of how it wasn't stated that it was coming to the Switch.On the Yooka-Replaylee website, the developers went a little further with the hint of what was going on here. Fans were told that there'd be more information revealed soon."Yes! Yooka-Replaylee will be playable on PS5, Xbox Series consoles and… Nintendo?" declared an interesting segment of the website. "Ooh mysterious. We’ll have more on that as soon as poss!"Again, this is something that Nintendo would probably need to approve of before it could be said by this third-party. In other words, Nintendo could be gearing up for this big reveal.While it might be crazy to think that Nintendo would want to announce something during the holiday season, it wouldn't be unheard of for Nintendo to have a Nintendo Direct presentation premier sometime in November or even December.Just to list a few examples, Nintendo has had Nintendo Directs play in December 2012, December 2013, November 2014, and November 2015. Needless to say, the reveal of a "Switch 2" that's backwards compatible with the Switch (as the rumors suggest) would likely have a nice impact on Nintendo's sales this holiday season.We'll ultimately have to see how things play out from here, but it feels like we're beginning to see some interesting developments pertaining to the Switch successor potentially being announced very soon.</div></body>

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NewsBreak

The multiple signs that the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement could be imminent

It's been over seven years since the Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, 2017. Since then, the Nintendo Switch has achieved 143.42 million sales worldwide, marking it as the third best-selling gaming peripheral after the Nintendo DS (154.02 million) and the PlayStation 2 (over 155 million). Needless to say,...