GameShark Didn’t Leak The Switch 2 Release Date, It Just Guessed
Nintendo Switch in use
You might have seen the headlines: GameShark leaked the Nintendo Switch 2 release date. Yup, the company that spent years making hacking devices for Nintendo consoles (and other consoles) apparently let slip that the Nintendo Switch’s successor was launching in September. Here’s the thing though: GameShark doesn’t know anything.
In a press release put out by consumer audio company Altec Lansing, the company revealed it was licensing software from Ai Shark, the company formerly known as GameShark. Altec Lansing said it was going to use the technology to “[bring] enhanced gameplay for beginner-level users” using AI, whatever that means. It also said it was going to launch in September 2024, “to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2.”
For a brief moment, it seemed like the company had just accidentally let slip the release date for the Switch 2, which would have been a pretty big deal. Alas, it was not meant to be, and a spokesperson told Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier that the company was simply guessing, and that it didn’t actually know. The public version of the press release was also updated, removing a specific release window, now just saying it was coming “in time for the holiday season.”
FYI: An Ai Shark spokesperson tells me they're just guessing about the next Nintendo console's release date https://t.co/CqPE9oBSDr
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 11, 2024
Some have responded to the backtracking by suggesting that it was because Nintendo noticed and got very grumpy. It’s pretty unlikely, though — it feels odd that Nintendo would be giving out release date information to a third party company making AI headphones… or something. Nintendo often doesn’t even share release date information with its own developers ahead of announcements, so it just didn’t really add up in the first place.
Others have suggested the sneaky mention of a release date was to get extra eyes on a product that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten much attention at all. Honestly, it seems like the most likely answer is that the press release was poorly drafted and edited, and something silly slipped through. But hey, if it was to get attention, congrats: this article is proof it worked.
A Switch successor is, at least, expected to come sometime this year — though its release date probably won’t be leaked like this. Nintendo reportedly showed off the Switch 2 at Gamescom last year, and given the Switch is getting on a bit in its old age, it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo reveals all.
