Why is Nintendo still so secretive with announcements? Switch 2 feels oddly empty for the future

Based on how most of its game library seems to consist of upgraded Switch 1 games, they should have named the console Switch 2.0.

Dacvak said:
I keep telling myself it's because the next 3D Mario is juuuust around the corner.

I'm almost out of clown makeup.
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You should upgrade to jester makeup and try to get a job for a king.
 
Midway-AGNC- said:
One thing that has been bothering me lately is how little Nintendo is willing to show about its future, especially now that we're heading into the Switch 2 era. Right now, this is basically what we know is coming:
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Jan 15, 2026)
  • Mario Tennis Fever (Feb 12, 2026)
  • Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (2026)
  • Splatoon Raiders (TBA)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park (2026)
  • Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (2026)
And that's… kind of it.

A part of this lineup is made up of re-releases or enhanced versions. That's fine as supporting content, but even if you count Splatoon as a system seller, which it arguably is for a large portion of Nintendo's audience, where is the big, forward-looking hit that generates long-term hype for 2026 and beyond? There's still no clear flagship reveal on the horizon, no major new IP, and no ambitious sequel that signals what the platform's future really looks like.

What makes this feel worse is the contrast with what we just saw at the Video Game Awards. Other publishers weren't shy about revealing games planned not only for 2026, but even further out. Whether those games slip or not is beside the point. Those announcements give players a sense of direction, a roadmap, and confidence that something substantial is being built.

Nintendo's philosophy, on the other hand, still revolves around announcing games at the last possible moment. One of the most common defenses of this strategy is the idea that announcing games early is inherently bad, because some titles end up being revealed five years before launch. But that's an extremely binary and exaggerated way of framing the issue. The alternative to announcing a game five years early isn't to announce everything two months before release and keep the future completely opaque. There is a wide middle ground between those extremes.

Even vague reveals, early teasers, or project confirmations help establish momentum and long-term confidence. Right now, Nintendo's silence doesn't feel disciplined, it feels unnecessarily closed off. Instead of building anticipation, it creates uncertainty and invites speculation about whether the next few years are actually planned out or just being drip-fed year by year. Another argument that often comes up is that Nintendo is in a position of comfort, "swimming in money," and therefore doesn't need to worry about hype cycles, communication, or public perception. But financial success doesn't invalidate criticism. If anything, it raises expectations.

At this point, the question isn't whether Nintendo can afford to stay quiet, it's whether this continued secrecy is actually beneficial for the Switch 2 ecosystem in the long run. Wouldn't it make more sense to show what's coming, set expectations, and give players confidence in the platform's future instead of keeping everything hidden until the last minute?

Curious to hear what everyone thinks.

Edit: Pokopiia, Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Heaven are also coming.
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Nintendo rarely tell you about games that are coming in a couple of years, it's more stuff just around the corner. I am betting there will be a Direct very soon into the new year.
 
Nintendos focus is to make each game get its own time period to shine, with advertisement and launch dates not overlapping if possible, so as to not make the games compete directly against each other for attention. Mario Kart in June, Donkey Kong in July. Or how the focus was on Kirby with directs in november and then launch and only then focus on Metroid Prime 4. Which can also be a negative, since it limited the opportunity to focus on Metroid Prime 4 before launch.

This also means that they tend to limit the announcement of new games in Nintendo directs to a smaller time period, to make us concentrate on the games we, hopefully for Nintendo, will actually spend money on right away.
 
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As someone who doesn't own one, it seems to have a good amount of first party support already out of the gate (but nothing for me in particular).
Feels like we're still a couple years away from a new Zelda announcement. Really curious to see what they do with the next one.
 
They just released a game announced seven years prior.
With the current development times, and big projects from other devs being cancelled every week, they probably want to be sure they're going to actually release a game before announcing it.
 
Because third party lineup is stacked.

Nintendo typically doesn't announce games really far out.

Tears of the Kingdom being delayed by Covid and existing in the public consciousness for four years before release was an anomaly.

Metroid Prime 4 being announced and cancelled and rebooted and existing in the public consciousness for 8 years before release was an anomaly.

This typically isn't how Nintendo handles these things.
 
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Midway-AGNC- said:
Notice how the response isn't actually engaging with the argument about communication strategy, timing of announcements, or long-term confidence.
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You don't deserve the effort it would take me to formulate a more nuanced response so instead, I just point out the obvious: You're acting like a pathetic kid throwing a temper tantrum because Nintendo exists and your replies in this thread reveal that you're trying to engage in even more pathetic console war BS.

Grow up.

Get a hobby that isn't posting on GAF
 
Midway-AGNC- said:
Why is Nintendo still so secretive with announcements? Switch 2 feels oddly empty for the future
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You must be new at Nintendo: it's normal to see 6 times more games announced for PS than for Nintendo in an event like the TGA.

They released this year MK, Donkey Kong, Pokemon and Metroid. That's a lot for them, they only have one or two major games per year.

Now that last month they relased to of them, it will take them maybe a handful months to announce the next couple big games. Very likely will be the next 3D Mario (there's the 40th Mario anniversary) and Animal Crossing.
 
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Because they don't have to, and this way they can have multiple directs with announcements during the year instead of revealing their entire lineup for the next 3 years at once and then mostly having to limit their shows to "updates".

Their heavy reliance on their historic franchises also helps. We don't need an announcement to know they'll release a new Zelda, Mario, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, etc
 
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Other than a select few titles they announced way too early, Nintendo has been like this through the entire Switch lifestyle. For comparison, here is what we knew, first party wise, on Dec 31 2017 for the Switch (basically the same time frame we are in now with the Switch 2):

Bayonetta 1/2 - Feb 2018
Kirby Star Allies - Mar 2018

Yoshi, Metroid Prime, Bayonetta 3 - Who knows?

Yes, that is all we knew. So we are actually in a much better place now than we used to be.

As for why Nintendo does it, well, why not? They have probably figured out that long wait between announcement and release don't have any impact on sales, so why not just wait until you have a good idea when the game releases. Better that than the embarrassing situation of Metroid where it took 8 years to release. A cynical view may also say that, by stringing people along with release schedule only 6 months out or whatever, people may be more inclined to buy a game they were only on the bubble of buying since they might figure nothing better will release afterwards. Is that true? I don't know, I'm not a CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation. But whatever the case, Nintendo would rather focus on the immediate future than hyping up internet message boards.
 
So there's five games confirmed to release next year from first party, it has more from third, and you still want more

Huh
 
Poppinfresh said:
That's because Nintendo is smart enough to know that 99% of their customer base don't care about internet message boards.

If only Sony and other developers would learn this lesson too...
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Well considering Sony has been very tight lipped about their projects too. Just 3 big games coming out in the next year or two from their first party (Wolverine, Saros, and Naughty dog's game) … they aren't announcing games 4-5 years early anymore it seems. Last was Wolverine. Plus they have the big third party games like Halo, Forza, Phantom blade, Control, and all that jazz.
 
Probably don't want any more hype for now, coasting on the system & Kart, hence they released with a DK instead of main Mario, Air Riders instead of Smash etc., saving up the big guns for when they need the boost/can fulfill the demand.

You know some things are coming anyway, Zelda, Mario, Splatoon (shown) Xenoblade or whatever Monolith, don't need more BOTW/Prime 4 waits. I'm curious for all the new shit they'll have to show though, this gen's ARMS, Kid Icarus, etc.

Would be neat to see some that don't pan out but I was gutted for it, thought of Burning Rangers.

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They don't have much competition when it comes to first party console specific games. That's still more than PlayStation has announced. The question with Switch 2 is with third support.
 
There is a hell of a lot of discussion on this thread. OP, if nintendo switch 2 is your primary and only console you play then i believe there is a lot of content available now. Secretive they may be or not, even 2026 has quite a bit already announced.

Personally for me it's my secondary console and I'll buy maybe 5-10 games in its lifespan.(I'm only interested in Zelda,Mario maybe a bit of Dk that's 2d and lugis mansion.) Regardless of some of the 3rd party titles coming to switch 2 I will always play them on ps5.

This has been a pattern with all my nintendo consoles from childhood and owning a NES through to switch. I only owned 10 games max throughout its life per console.

Your defo getting some heat on the discussion so don't stress it man.
 
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