Bloomberg reports that Nintendo repeatedly delayed the launch of Switch 2, giving its first-party teams extra time to polish tentpole titles like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. That choice slowed the console’s debut but aimed to boost flagship game quality.
The claim comes from a long feature that cites anonymous sources familiar with Nintendo’s pre-launch plans. The piece says internal pressure existed to push the hardware sooner, but management opted to hold back. At the same time, development teams finished major first-party projects – a trade-off that mattered to the console’s initial software lineup. Bloomberg said the following:
“The company decided that aiming for perfection was more important”
Specific titles weren’t named in the reporting. Still, the focus on flagship first-party releases strongly points to Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza as the most likely reasons for delays. Oddly enough, the company’s large cash buffer was framed as a deliberate safety net to support precisely this kind of slow-burning development.
There are still questions about how this strategy will affect the near-term release calendar and third-party relations. Former staff members have voiced concerns about the lack of precise dates for major games, yet the report suggests that Nintendo prioritized quality over meeting an earlier launch window.
