Rumors of a "Nintendo Switch 2" are growing more intense after Nintendo hid the 2016 reveal trailer for the the Nintendo Switch from their YouTube page.

There are plenty of dots one could connect to make the point that Nintendo is getting ready to announce its next console. The Switch turned six years old this year, and it's not much of a secret that it's grown increasingly outclassed by its same-gen peers. Nintendo home consoles tend to have a life cycle of about 5-6 years, and a recent, mildly underwhelming Direct that lacked any marquee first-party title announcements contributed to speculation that Nintendo was saving things like a new 3D Mario title for the new console. It's not difficult to imagine that Nintendo would remove the reveal trailer for Switch 1 in preparation for a Switch 2 reveal.

Ultimately, this is just speculation, as there could be myriad reasons why the trailer was removed. On ResetEra, where the removed trailer was first noticed, users speculated that it could be a music licensing issue that caused Nintendo to delist the video. An informal poll run by the users on the site was split almost down the middle on whether a Switch 2 announcement was imminent.

That being said, the idea that the Switch is on its last legs has permeated throughout the gaming industry. Polygon reviewed Super Mario Bros. Wonder and called it "the perfect end for the Switch." In May of 2023, Nintendo stated that there would be no plans to announce a follow-up to the Switch until the end of the fiscal year, which is March 31st, 2024. In September, reports circulated that developers were able to try out the successor to the Switch.

At this point, it seems a successor to the Switch is definitely in the pipeline. All that's left is to speculate on just how soon we'll hear about it.