It was to be expected that some details about Nintendo Switch 2 would leak before it was revealed. Details about upcoming game consoles always leak before their official announcement. Unlike a game in development, too many people outside the consoles parent company need to know about the device in advance for the secret to be kept: third-party publishers and developers, parts suppliers, accessory manufacturers, retailers, and the people in the factories that make the things. Somebody somewhere in this sprawling chain is going to crack. Somethings going to get out.Even so, the situation with Switch 2 at the moment is extreme. (Even the name has leaked.) The last few weeks have seen a blizzard of leaks, including apparent photos of final hardware. The dam has broken to the extent that peripherals manufacturer Genki, which claims to have obtained a real Switch 2 through back channels, has thrown caution to the wind and shown a mock-up of the console at CES. Genki even has a detailed, animated render of Nintendos new console on its website.Throughout most of last year, it was business as usual in Switch 2 leak land. A few details emerged in reports sourced from behind-closed-doors meetings with Nintendos partners, and a pretty complete, if hazy, picture of the consoles form and features was built up: the magnetic Joy-Cons, the AI-assisted upscaling tech, the backward compatibility.Then, in September, the leaks shifted up a gear. Molds, schematics, and hardware specifications emerged from manufacturers in China that were detailed enough for one YouTuber to 3D print a mock-up of the new console. Since then, corroborating evidence has piled up to the extent that only a handful of mysteries remain (mostly, what the new button, the extra USB-C port, and the optical sensor are for). Weve even got a good sense of the color schemes.Its an unprecedented amount of data on a console that hasnt even been announced yet. What happened?In all probability, its a simple matter of timing. Reports indicate that Nintendo originally planned to launch the Switch 2 in 2024, but delayed it into 2025 to allow time to finish new games and build up enough inventory to prevent stock shortages. But this delay must have presented the company with a dilemma. If it announced the new console in 2024, it could have the knock-on effect of thwarting original Switch sales during the crucial holiday period.This holiday season, I couldnt resist sharing this gift with you all. Some might call it an early reveal but I call it the best-kept secret of the year. pic.twitter.com/btAcUo9j0Q NextHandheld (@NextHandheld) December 25, 2024This hadnt been a concern when Nintendo announced the original Switch with a video in October 2016 the Wii U was a sales dud and Nintendo was keen to move on. But the Switch still sells in large numbers to this day, and it seems Nintendo likely judged that announcing its next move wasnt worth the potential hit to revenue.This strategy is consistent with Nintendos choice to reveal one detail about Switch 2 before the holidays that it would be backward-compatible, thus reassuring players that it was still worth buying Switch games.Nintendos strategy pulled its preparations for Switch 2 in opposing directions. On the one hand, it seemingly wanted a late announcement and short promotional campaign in order to protect Switch sales. On the other, it reportedly wanted a long manufacturing lead-in before launch to build up a healthy amount of stock. This resulted in an unusual situation: Nintendo was likely gearing up for full Switch 2 production months before the console was even announced. What appear to be final retail units have even started to appear in the wild all still before an announcement has been made.So why hasnt Nintendo a famously secretive and litigious company that just loves a takedown notice appeared to do anything to squash the leaks? This is essentially unknowable, and Nintendo is never likely to say. But it seems likely that Nintendo leadership was fully aware that leaks were an inevitable consequence of this launch strategy, and has decided to accept them, in this case, as the cost of doing business.The good news is that, with that holiday sales period out of the way, we can probably expect an announcement very soon. More than that: The Switch 2 is a tangible reality. It exists; its being made right now. That doesnt necessarily mean its launch is imminent. But it might not be too far off.