On Wednesday, October 16, 2016, Nintendo of America famously tweeted an invitation to watch the first preview trailer for Switch (back when it was still codenamed “NX”). The trailer was supposed to go online the next day. In what can only be interpreted as a giant Switch 2 teaser from a retailer who undoubtedly has insider knowledge, Walmart Canada just tweeted the exact same image with the caption “Hey, Mario 👋.”

The implication is that Nintendo will repeat history tomorrow and announce some kind of Switch 2 reveal (i.e. “pulling back the curtain”) that will take place the following day: Thursday, January 16th.

This falls in line with the deafening rumors that Nintendo will officially reveal the Switch 2 hardware this week.

This tweet may seem innocent on the surface; a savvy social media manager who deftly adds his voice to the rumor mill to increase engagement. But it’s much more than that, because Walmart Canada is known for being a bit, well, enthusiastic when it comes to things that haven’t been revealed yet.

In 2018, I reported on Bethesda’s hilarious response to Walmart Canada revealing the existence of Rage 2. The retailer also briefly released pre-order listings for a number of unannounced games, including Forza Horizon 5, Borderlands 3 and Gears of War 5. (The listings were quickly removed, but not before Wario64 took a screenshot.)

As Gamespot points out today, Walmart Canada’s leaks have since been reduced to a minimum. However, it has to be said that large corporations like this rarely let the people who manage their social media accounts shoot from the hip without permission. This feels very much like something was intentionally posted to not only generate engagement but also hype.

We tend to think of Nintendo as a secretive and litigious platform holder, but as someone who used to market for AMD, I know for a fact that leaks are often intentionally planted.

Yes, this is pure speculation, but I wouldn’t put it past Nintendo of America to quietly orchestrate a few creative ways to get all eyes on them this week in order to capitalize on the non-stop media coverage the Switch 2 has received since then to beat CES. Essentially, it’s about making the best of a bad situation and turning the unplanned attention caused by endless leaks into a positive outcome.

By the way, here’s a fun tidbit to add more fuel to the fire: The official Nintendo of America account tweeted this about three hours after Walmart’s post:

The phrase “spill the tea” refers to sharing insider knowledge or gossip. Unintentional or absolutely masterful sub-tweet aimed at Walmart Canada and people like Nate The Hate? I’ll let you decide.

Hopefully we’ll find out a lot more about the Switch 2 in less than 48 hours.

More Nintendo Switch 2 coverage:

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