Nintendo Switch 2 designs posted by 3D model enthusiast are making internet users laugh

Nintendo fans have been left in shock over newly released images that purport to show the Switch 2. The images include clear 3D models of the console and its Joy-Con controller, as well as images of the device’s chassis – including its circuit board.

Overall, the images depict a console that’s nearly identical to the current Switch, albeit with a larger screen size and what appear to be magnets on the sides of the Joy-Con.

These details match those previously publicly released about the Switch 2, but they do little to verify the images themselves. In fact, doubts have been cast on the images — which were originally released It was published. to a Chinese social media site and then shared more widely across Reddit – Since discovering that the original poster was a fan of 3D design and models.

The author of the original post has since deleted the images from his social media profile — which also includes detailed models of Black Myth Wukong statues and other creations, made by someone clearly capable of copying and recreating 3D designs.

However, the two photographs posted alongside the 3D models are worth some close examination – in particular, one that appears to show the Switch 2’s printed circuit board (PCB).

The detail on this board is impressive, and the PCB number printed on it matches leaked shipping data for parts used in last year’s Switch 2 prototypes. Could the images show a real prototype that the person who created them was 3D modeling? Maybe, but even then it would come with the caveat that it’s a model that has since been superseded, and we shouldn’t expect that to translate exactly to the final product. In other words, even if this is real, it’s old.

Nintendo has not yet announced any details about its upcoming device, other than confirming that it will announce the Switch 2 before April 2025, which is the end of its current fiscal year.

Eurogamer has contacted Nintendo for comment on the images published today.

Previous reports by Eurogamer have tracked the Switch 2 on its path to release, from developer briefings in the summer of 2023, to early word in February 2024 that the console is now ready for a 2025 release.

The past few weeks have seen rumors and speculation about the Switch 2 circulate, with expectations growing for an announcement from Nintendo. Any Nintendo announcement will have to fit into the company’s already busy schedule, with the imminent launch of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and other Switch games, as the company’s current console is being supported for one last birthday.