Fans think Xenoblade Chronicles X is a clue about the Nintendo Switch 2 release date-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro

Xenoblade Chronicles X – coming to Switch but what about Switch 2? (Nintendo)

Nintendo has made yet another announcement that isn’t the Switch 2, but the latest reveal may say something about its launch after all.

Just for a change, things are very confusing in the world of Nintendo fandom. The most recent rumour suggested the unveiling of the Switch 2 might happen today but while that has now been proven wrong (it’ll never get annouced now, after hours in Europe) Nintendo did make an announcement.

They revealed that Wii U game Xenoblade Chronicles X is coming to the current Nintendo Switch in a new Definitive Edition, with improved graphics and new story elements. It’s an excellent game, one of the best on the console, but that’s not the only thing that’s caught people’s interest.

The Definitive Edition is being released on March 20, 2025 and there are some fans that think this will also be the release date of the Switch 2. While others see it as proof that the Switch 2 won’t be released until some time after that.

Nintendo has said nothing official about the Switch 2 yet (even the name is just a guess) but they have heavily hinted that it’s backwards compatible with the original Switch. Something which the current test for a new massively multiplayer online game also seems to suggest.

So one theory is that Xenoblade Chronicles X is actually cross-gen, and will also be a launch title, while the other theory suggests that it’s merely an attempt to keep the current Switch ticking over and that its March launch is actually indicative of a Switch 2 launch relatively late in the year.

Since it is so acclaimed, it’s always been a puzzle why Xenoblade Chronicles X hasn’t been ported to the Switch before, with many speculating that Nintendo were holding it back for a rainy day. Which this new announcement essentially confirms.

To muddy the water though, not only was the announcement made on the same day one source was expecting a Switch 2 reveal but a different, much less trusted, insider correctly predicted the reveal of Xenoblade Chronicles X today.

No one paid any attention to Samus Hunter when they made their prediction, which underlines the difficulty of working out who has genuine insider information and who is just making educated guesses.

They’ve made no recent predictions about the Switch 2 but what they have said is that, ‘before its launch, Nintendo has many more titles planned for the first console!’

This supports the theory that the Switch 2 is launching relatively late in the year, possibly as late as early summer or autumn 2025.

Although there’s no other specific information, a previous rumour also suggested that Nintendo is encouraging third party publishers to release more remasters on the Switch next year, in order to ensure it got new content.

There’s no more high profile Wii U ports left but perhaps Nintendo has other new titles waiting in the wings, like the online title, which may also be cross-gen. It’s already scheduled Wii remaster Donkey Kong Country Returns HD for January and other Wii and 3DS titles are also rumoured.

With every new announcement the situation around Nintendo only gets more and more confusing, which is, of course, perfectly normal. You can only hope that when the Switch 2 is finally unveiled it won’t be a disappointment.

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