007 First Light's Switch 2 release date may be closer than we realised

The Nintendo Switch 2 version of IO Interactive's 007 First Light has been anticipated practically since it was revealed to be in the works. That version of the game didn't make it out alongside all the other platforms in May, but thanks to a new leak, we know when we'll be playing it.

As spotted by users on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, Amazon Japan has the Switch 2 version of First Light listed for a 16th September release date. The listing remains online at the time of writing, and the date has not changed.

A mid-September release would line up with IOI's recent comments, which said we should expect to be playing the game on Switch 2 sometime in the summer.

IO Interactive has not shown First Light running on Switch 2 yet. Given the leaked release date, we're likely going to have our first look at the port in August or thereabouts.

As is the case with other cutting-edge triple-A games, there are concerns about performance and presentation on Nintendo's console. The studio's senior licensing producer Theuns Smit revealed last month the team is "seeing really good progress on the optimisation side of things", though without digging into specifics.

"We want to make sure that we give it its time in optimisation and performance, [so] that it reaches the quality that not only we desire, but that we feel our players deserve," Smit said at the time.

007 First Light just received its first major patch across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The update brings a host of bug fixes, adds new TacSim missions and other unlockable rewards.

Since its release, the action game has done really well for IOI, selling 2.7m copies in its first week on sale. The figure was revealed in early June, and studio director Hakan Abrak said at the time that it was even "closer to 3 million copies sold".