Nintendo Switch 2 May Already be in the Works [Leak]

NVIDIA recently got hit by a major cyberattack with hackers leaking over 1TB of confidential information to the public. Some of the leaked information included the source code for DLSS technology, codenames for next-gen GPU architectures, and much more. Eagle-eyed users were also quick to notice ‘NVN2,’ the alleged graphics API for the Nintendo Switch 2 or Switch Pro

The Nintendo Switch handheld gaming device (akin to a PSP) was first released in 2017 with games struggling to maintain an acceptable frame rate, running at low resolutions with poor image quality. The latest leaks now point towards the possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2.

Twitter user NWPlayer123 pointed out that the leaked source files include the NVN2 API, optimized for NVIDIA’s Ampere GPU architecture.

Tipster kopite7kimi also stated that the Nintendo Switch 2 console will be powered by the T234 and T239 chips.

Previous leaks suggested that the company was already working on a DLSS powered Switch console.

The chipsets are said to be customized versions of Nvidia’s Tegra Orin (used in Nintendo Switch) with a codename beginning with ‘D,’ either Dane or Drake. Some leaks suggest that these chips and codenames were only used for the Switch Pro, which has now probably been canceled.

The Tegra Orin (T234) chipset packs 2048 CUDA Cores paired with an Ampere architecture GPU along with a 12-core Cortex-A78AE (Hercules) 64-bit CPU.

Nintendo is also rumored to use a customized gaming console version of the T234, known as the T239. The T239 has slightly different specifications but packs the Ampere GA10F GPU. The chip will also feature AV1 video codec support, which dramatically lowers file sizes while maintaining high quality.

Although there may be some truth to the leaks, they are unlikely to be the final specifications of the next-gen console. Moreover, the leaked archives can be traced to 2019 and have been constantly kept up to date, providing concrete evidence that the specs could be a part of some canceled version or a delayed console. It is also likely that Nintendo is already working on a new variant with completely different specs