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Nintendo shoots down Switch 2 launch game rumours with long-awaited Pokemon update

Nintendo has revealed that Pokemon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4 are coming to the original Switch first, and aren't currently planned for Switch 2 outside of backwards compatibility

[Nintendo Switch 2]

What will we be playing on Switch 2?

Nintendo's next console is the Switch 2, and the wait for more information on the handheld/home console hybrid is only going to get worse as we count down to April 2.

Still, at least EA has suggested it'll more enthusiastically support the console, but what about Nintendo? While we know the system will have backward compatibility and Switch 2 exclusives, but the only game we've seen is a fresh new Mario Kart that remains untitled.

That's led to rampant speculation about how the whole launch lineup will look after Switch 1 launched with one of the greatest games ever in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but Nintendo has confirmed two games that aren't likely to be launch titles.

Switch 2 launch lineup plans clarified?

[Pokemon Scarlet/Violet screenshot]

We've only seen a short teaser for Pokemon Legends Z-A (so this isn't it!)(Image: Nintendo)

As per VGC, Nintendo has reaffirmed that both Pokemon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4, arguably the two biggest titles it still has to release at present outside of Switch 2 and Mario Kart, are still planned for the first console.

After relative silence about Pokemon Legends Z-A outside of a short teaser trailer, fans had assumed Nintendo would be preparing it for the second Switch, especially after Scarlet and Violet had plenty of issues on the original console.

Metroid Prime 4, on the other hand, was shown off again in 2024 and looked so good we were convinced the first Switch wouldn't be able to run it.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explained that both games are slated to arrive this year for the 2017 system and that the company plans to continue supporting the hardware for as long as there is demand.

Earlier this week, we reported that one analyst suggested Nintendo had "overestimated" demand for the console as it enters its eighth year on the market, and that Switch 2 "can't come soon enough".

For more on Switch 2, be sure to check out this bizarrely plausible release date theory, as well as how to jump the queue and preorder in the UK.

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