2023 is nearly over, and barring a surprise at The Game Awards next week, we probably won’t hear anything official about the Nintendo Switch 2 until next year. Even the rumor mill has dried up, but one seemingly innocuous announcement has piqued our interest. Could a recent game delay also be an inadvertent hint about the Switch 2 release date?
On December 29, Japanese video game developer Level-5 hosted a live stream to share news about its upcoming games. One of the announcements was that its new Switch game, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, is being delayed to summer 2024.
The delay is not especially notable (unless you’re a huge Fantasy Life fan, in which case I hope this doesn’t sting too much), but the announcement itself was rather unique. In a series of slides, Level-5 explained that it has “already decided on a specific release date,” but is only sharing the vague windows of summer 2024 for “strategic reasons” (via Notebookcheck).
There are countless explanations for why Level-5 wouldn’t be ready to announce a release date. But the one that we’re choosing to believe is that the developer wants to launch this RPG sequel alongside the Nintendo Switch 2. Leaks have suggested that Nintendo will launch the Switch 2 in or around September 2024. In 2024, astronomical summer lasts from June 20 to September 22. It would certainly be a strategic decision to make Fantasy Life i a Switch 2 launch title.
While this might sound like a bit of a stretch, it is more than a little suspicious that Level-5 has a release date in mind but refuses to share it. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more hints at The Game Awards on December 7.